At least six people were killed and five others injured after an earthquale of 6.6-magnitude hit west Nepal early Wednesday, authorities said, reported news agency PTI. As per the National Seismological Centre, the earthquake occurred at 2:12 am with its epicentre at Khaptad National Park in Doti district. Taking note the situation, Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba expressed his grief over the loss of lives and directed relief and rescue operations for the victims.
“Expressing my heartfelt condolences to the families of those who died in the earthquake, which was centered in the Khaptad region of Far West. Also, I have instructed the relevant agencies to arrange immediate and proper treatment of the injured and the victims in the relief and rescue in the affected areas,” Deuba tweeted.
सुदूरपश्चिमको खप्तड क्षेत्र केन्द्रविन्दु बनाई गएको भूकम्पमा परि मृत्यु हुनेहरुप्रति हार्दिक श्रदाञ्जली व्यक्त गर्दै परिवारजनमा समवेदना प्रकट गर्दछु । साथै प्रभावित क्षेत्रमा राहत र उद्दारमा खटिन र घाईतेहरुको तत्काल उचित उपचारको प्रबन्ध गर्न सम्बन्धित निकायलाई निर्देशन दिएको छु।
— Sher Bahadur Deuba (@SherBDeuba) November 9, 2022
Deputy Superintendent of Police Bhola Bhatta, the acting chief at the District Police Office in Doti, said that all the victims were killed by the debris of the houses damaged during the earthquake.
The earthquake that was felt mildly in Kathmandu and parts of India has also caused damage to dozens of other houses in the district.
Earlier, a 5.7-magnitude tremor was recorded at 9.07 pm and another 4.1- magnitude tremor at 9.56 pm on Tuesday at the same epicentre, according to the Seismological Centre.
In April 2015, a devastating earthquake of 7.8-magnitude rocked Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 people and wounding nearly 22,000 others. It also damaged over 800,000 houses and school buildings.
Tremors were also felt across Delhi NCR and surrounding areas of Ghaziabad and Gurugram and even in Lucknow, jolting people out of their sleep.
The Himalayan region in Uttarakhand and adjoining Nepal has been experiencing earthquakes of lower magnitude for the past couple of days.
Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi tweeted, “Didn’t want to tweet but one can safely say it did feel like an earthquake!” Congress leader Radhika Khera urged people to “stay alert and stay safe”.
Radio Jockey Raunac said, “It was scary…extremely scary.” The USGS said the epicentre of the earthquake was at 21 km from Dipayal in Nepal.
The region had experienced at least two earthquakes of 4.9 magnitude and 3.5 magnitude late Tuesday evening, the NCS data showed.
(With inputs from PTI)
