An earthquake hit Nepal in the wee hours of Wednesday, killing at least six people, injuring several, and wrecking houses in the northwestern district of Doti, according to officials.
The earthquake sent tremors to northern India, including shaking its capital, New Delhi, about 350km (220 miles) from Doti. Local news channels showed many kutcha houses quashed by the quake. The videos also showed rescue teams searching the debris for survivors.
A Nepali army spokesperson Narayan Silwal said that at least two people are reportedly missing. Deputy superintendent of police, Doti, Bhola Bhatta, said that four children died when the eight houses in the region came down after the occurrence of the earthquake. These included an 8-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl, two 14-year-old girls, along with a 40-year-old woman, and a 50-year-old man, Bhatta said, as quoted by The Kathmandu Post news outlet.
After two significant earthquakes in 2015 wrecked entire cities and centuries-old temples, killed almost 9,000 people and damaged the economy by $6 billion, Nepal is still recovering from it and trying to rebuild the economy. Doti is located 430 kilometers (270 miles) west of Kathmandu, the country’s capital.
Prime Minister order for proper treatment of injured
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba expressed grief and offered condolences to the bereaved families. He wrote on Twitter, “I have instructed the relevant agencies to arrange immediate and proper treatment of the injured and the victims.”
According to army spokesman Silwal, a ground rescue team from the Nepali army has been dispatched to the scene, while two helicopters were waiting in the neighboring towns of Surkhet and Nepalgunj.
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said that the earthquake was centered about 158 km (100 miles) northeast of Pilibhit, a city in the neighboring Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and had a depth of 10 km.
