At Least 157 Dead in Nepal Earthquake

Damaged houses lie in ruins, in the aftermath of an earthquake at Pipaldanda village of Jajarkot district on November 4, 2023. (AFP)
Damaged houses lie in ruins, in the aftermath of an earthquake at Pipaldanda village of Jajarkot district on November 4, 2023. (AFP)
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At Least 157 Dead in Nepal Earthquake

Damaged houses lie in ruins, in the aftermath of an earthquake at Pipaldanda village of Jajarkot district on November 4, 2023. (AFP)
Damaged houses lie in ruins, in the aftermath of an earthquake at Pipaldanda village of Jajarkot district on November 4, 2023. (AFP)

At least 157 people were killed in an overnight earthquake that struck a remote pocket of Nepal, officials said Saturday, as security forces rushed to assist with rescue efforts.  

The force of the 5.6-magnitude tremor jolted households awake and flattened mud houses in communities across isolated western districts of the Himalayan republic late Friday.  

"There was a very big noise when the houses came down. It felt like a big explosion," Shiva Prasad Sharma, 65, told AFP from outside the destroyed remnants of his home in Jajarkot, the district hit worst by the quake.

"I thought we were going to die," he added. "No one has anything left. There are no houses left to stay in".

Locals frantically dug through rubble in the dark to pull survivors from the wreckage of collapsed homes and buildings, as others crouched outside for safety.  

The quake was felt as far away as India's capital New Delhi, nearly 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the epicenter.  

"The toll from the quake has reached 157 -- 105 in Jajarkot and 52 in Rukum," national police spokesman Kuber Kathayat told AFP.  

Another 199 were injured in the quake, he added.  

Home ministry spokesman Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said the toll was unlikely to significantly increase.  

"We are now in touch with all areas," he told AFP. "It is possible some bodies might still be found under the rubble."

Security forces were deployed on foot and in helicopters to assist with search and rescue operations.  

"The remoteness of the districts makes it difficult for information to get through," Karnali Province police spokesman Gopal Chandra Bhattarai told AFP.  

"Some roads had been blocked by damage, but we are trying to reach the area through alternate routes."  

Dozens of survivors with fractures and head injuries were raced for treatment to a hospital in Nepalgunj, a small city near the Indian border.  

"It came when we were sleeping," Kamala Oli, a woman cradling her infant child at a hospital treating survivors, told AFP.  

"There were three of us in the house. Only two of us lived," she added, without giving further details.  

'Human and physical damages'

Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal arrived at the site of the quake on Saturday after expressing his "deep sorrow over the human and physical damage".  

"The government is serious about providing relief to victims and treating the injured," he said.  

Neighboring India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was "deeply saddened" by the loss of lives.  

"India stands in solidarity with the people of Nepal and is ready to extend all possible assistance," he added.  

Nepal lies on a major geological faultline where the Indian tectonic plate pushes up into the Eurasian plate, forming the Himalayas, and earthquakes are a regular occurrence.  

Nearly 9,000 people died and more than 22,000 were injured in 2015 when a 7.8-magnitude quake struck Nepal, destroying more than half a million homes.  

It damaged or destroyed nearly 8,000 schools, leaving almost one million children without classrooms.  

Hundreds of monuments and royal palaces -- including the Kathmandu Valley's UNESCO World Heritage sites -- that had drawn visitors from around the world were destroyed in a major blow to tourism.  

Six people also died in November last year when a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck Doti district, near Jajarkot.  

Friday's quake was followed several hours later by an aftershock in the same area with a 4.0 magnitude, the US Geological Survey said.



Kremlin: Putin Not Ruling Out Talks with Ukraine, but Wants Guarantees

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a TV camera screen as he speaks during a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a TV camera screen as he speaks during a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
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Kremlin: Putin Not Ruling Out Talks with Ukraine, but Wants Guarantees

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a TV camera screen as he speaks during a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a TV camera screen as he speaks during a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not ruling out talks with Ukraine, but guarantees will be needed to ensure the credibility of any negotiations, Russian news agencies cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Sunday.

More than 90 countries took part in a two-day event at the Buergenstock resort in central Switzerland aimed at uniting global opinion on how to end Moscow's 27-month-old invasion.
Russia was not invited to those talks.

Kyiv's positions have been taken into consideration in the final communique for the summit, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Sunday.

"The text is balanced, all of our principled positions on which Ukraine had insisted have been considered," he told reporters.

Kuleba also hinted that Russia could be involved in a future summit but dismissed Putin's demand on Friday that Kyiv cede four regions of Ukraine that Russia has occupied and drop its goal of joining NATO.