Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda arrived in Jajarkot in western Nepal on Saturday after a shallow magnitude-6.4 earthquake struck the region on Friday night, killing more than 130 people.
Dahal, posting on the X social media platform, expressed deep sorrow at the loss of life and property in the quake and ordered security agencies to launch immediate rescue and relief operations.
A 16-member army medical team tasked with overseeing search, rescue and relief joined the prime minister to the earthquake-struck region, said Dahal’s office.
His office also appealed to political parties, social workers and the public to donate funds to help arrange food, water, clothes and tents for the survivors.
Previously, local officials had warned the death toll could rise. Although the quake’s magnitude was not severe, the damage and death toll would likely be high due to the poor quality of construction in the area and the fact that it struck while people were asleep, they said.
The quake, which killed 136 people and injured 141 others, and shook buildings as far away as India’s New Delhi, is the deadliest in the mountainous country since 2015 when about 9,000 people were killed in two earthquakes.
An additional four aftershocks above magnitude-4.0 had been recorded by Saturday morning, according to Nepal’s National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center.
(With input from agencies)
