Kathmandu: In the powerful earthquake that struck Jajarkot, the death toll has reached 157. Among them, 99 are women, and 58 are men.

Most of the earthquake’s epicenter in Jajarkot has seen the death of 157 people, including 72 women and 33 men. Similarly, in Rukum West, 52 people have died, with 27 women and 25 men among them.

Furthermore, to date, there have been 81 wounded in Jajarkot, 79 in Rukum West, and 3 in Dailekh and Jumla, totaling 166 wounded. Out of the injured, 5 people have been discharged.

Background

A magnitude 6.4M earthquake struck Karnali Province in western Nepal at around 11.47 p.m. local time (UTC 6.02 p.m.) on 3 November 2023, with several aftershocks occurring thereafter. The epicentre was in Ramidanda in Jajarkot District, some 65 kilometres northeast of Surkhet, the capital city of Karnali Province. Tremors have been felt in the adjacent Sudurpashchim and Lumbini provinces as well as other parts of Nepal, and reportedly as far away as Delhi, India.

Initial information indicates that some 133 people were killed across Karnali Province, including reportedly 95 people in Jajarkot and 38 people in Western Rukum. Several hundred more people have reportedly been injured. These figures are preliminary, and concerns remain that actual figures may be higher, especially as the earthquake struck at a time when most people were likely to have been at home or otherwise indoors. Local authorities anticipate an increase in the number of recorded casualties as search and rescue efforts continue amid reports that some people may still be trapped under collapsed buildings. Health facilities are reportedly overwhelmed, with hospitals in Rukum overcrowded and Bheri Hospital in Banke now only treating patients in serious condition.

Access to Jajarkot and Dolpa in Rirauta Rimna (in the border area of Jajarkot-Dolpa) is reportedly inhibited by landslides triggered by the earthquake; work to reopen the road is already ongoing and access is expected to be restored during the course of 4 November. Current reports from the provincial traffic police indicate that all other roads in Karnali province are operational. Most of the destroyed house are reportedly in Jajarkot and Rukum, with the geographic remoteness of the two districts and the lack of communication challenging rescue and relief efforts.