massive earthquake jolts western Nepal

 Rescue efforts are ongoing because officials are concerned that the death toll may increase.

A powerful earthquake that slammed western Nepal on Friday, registering 5.6 on the Richter scale, is said to have killed at least 128 people.

The quake that happened at 11:47 p.m. likewise left somewhere around 140 individuals harmed.

The remote western Nepalese district of Jajarkot was identified as the epicentre by the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre.

Rescue helicopters arrived in the area early on Saturday to offer support, according to reports from the local media.

A spokeswoman for the Nepal police, Kuber Kadayat, said that attempts were still being made by the ground security forces to retrieve the deceased and rescue the injured from the rubble.

The fatal earthquake left survivors trapped outside as many houses either collapsed or suffered significant damage. A few more tremors occurred.

Over 500 kilometers away from Nepal, in New Delhi, there were also tremors detected.

According to the Kathmandu Post, Nepal's prime minister, Pushpakamal Dahal "Prachanda," was en route to the scene of the tragedy on Saturday morning along with a medical team. He also shared his "deep sorrow over the human and material damage" on X/Twitter.

Both Nepal Armed force and Nepal Police faculty have been assembled to do safeguard works.

"Houses have imploded. Individuals surged out of their homes. I'm out in the horde of panicked occupants. We are attempting to track down subtleties of harm," police official Santosh Rokka told Reuters by telephone.

Nepal is a quake inclined country given its situating in the Himalayas.

Last month, a 6.3-size quake struck the western locale of Bajhang, causing wounds.

In 2015, Nepal experienced two disastrous quakes that killed 9,000 individuals and left 22,309 harmed.