KATHMANDU: A powerful earthquake struck northwestern Nepal districts early Saturday, killing at least 54 people and injuring scores others.
According to the local officials the death toll was expected to rise, noting that communications were cut off in many villages.
Police official Narvaraj Bhattarai said the earthquake killed at least 28 people in Rukum district, where numerous houses collapsed while in neighboring Jajarkot district, 26 people were confirmed dead.
#BREAKING: At least 37 dead as #earthquake rocks northwestern #Nepal, and officials say toll expected to rise https://t.co/kopwn4lXYA pic.twitter.com/JWI6U4DfdN
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According to security officials rescue teams were working with villagers in the darkness to pull the dead and injured from damaged houses. However, reaching some spots was difficult because some of the trails were blocked by landslides triggered by the earthquake.
Nepal’s National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center said the earthquake measuring 6.4 at the Richter Scale with epicenter about 400 kilometers struck northeast of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.
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However, the U.S. Geological Survey had initially said the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 and took place at a depth of 17.9 kilometers.
The quake struck at midnight when many people already were asleep in their homes. Tremors were also felt in India.
In 2015 a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed some 9,000 people and damaged about 1 million structures.
