An earthquake in Nepal has killed at least 69 people and injured “many” people, according to local authorities. It is feared that the death toll will continue to rise because contact could not be made with the most affected area during the night. Eyewitnesses report to the Reuters news agency that buildings have collapsed.
The epicenter of the quake was around the Jajarkot region in western Nepal, a sparsely populated region with about 190,000 inhabitants. According to the head of the district, it was “difficult to get information in the cold and dark night.” Landslides also make access to the area difficult.
The earthquake was also felt in the Indian capital New Delhi, about five hundred kilometers away. There is uncertainty about the precise strength of the earthquake. The National Seismological Center of Nepal said the magnitude was 6.4, but the German Geology Research Center GFZ put it at 5.7 and the US Geological Survey at 5.6.
Nepal, largely located in the Himalayan mountains, lies on top of a fault line and is more often hit by earthquakes. In 2015, for example, almost nine thousand people died when the country was struck by two earthquakes in quick succession and entire villages were wiped out.