Aid trickled in to villages Monday in Nepal’s northwest mountains flattened by a strong earthquake over the weekend as villagers searched through the rubble of their collapsed homes to salvage what was left of their belongings.
The magnitude 5.6 temblor struck just minutes before midnight Friday, killing 157 people, injuring scores and leaving thousands homeless. The U.S. Geological Survey said that the quake occurred at a depth of 11 miles (18 kilometers). Nepal’s National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center confirmed that the epicenter was in Jajarkot, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) northeast of the capital, Kathmandu.
Authorities on Monday pressed on with efforts to bring food and other supplies, tents and medicines to the remote villages, many only reachable by foot. Roads were also blocked by landslides triggered by the earthquake. Soldiers could be seen trying to clear blocked roads.
Rescue and search teams said Monday that the first part of their mission — to rescue survivors, get the injured to treatment and search for bodies — was over.
“Now we are working on the second phase of our work to distribute relief material, get aid to the villagers, and at the same time we are collecting details about the damages,” said government official Harish Chandra Sharma.
The National Emergency Operation Center in Kathmandu said that along with the 157 killed, at least 256 people were injured and 3,891 houses were damaged.
In Chepare, villagers were going through piles of rocks and logs that used to be their homes on Monday, looking for anything they could salvage.—AP
