Nepal earthquake kills six, rattles New Delhi

An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 in Nepal early on Wednesday killed four children and two adults, seriously injured five others as several houses collapsed in the western district of Doti, and shook New Delhi in neighbouring India, report informs via Reuters.

Local media showed mud and brick houses destroyed by the quake in the Himalayan country and rescuers digging through the rubble to look for survivors. At least two people are reported missing, said Nepali army spokesperson Narayan Silwal.

Ram Upadhyay, chairman of the Purbi Chowki rural municipality in Doti, said he was in a nearby village when the quake struck at 2.12 am Nepal time (2027 GMT).

"It shook terribly and I rushed out immediately. Now we are collecting details including the dead bodies," he said.

Five people were seriously injured as eight houses collapsed, said Bhola Bhatta, Doti's deputy superintendent of police.

Nepal is still rebuilding after two major earthquakes in 2015 killed almost 9,000 people, destroyed whole towns and centuries-old temples and caused a $6 billion blow to the economy.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who faces re-election later this month, offered condolences to the families of the victims. "I have instructed the relevant agencies to arrange immediate and proper treatment of the injured and the victims."

Nepal's seismological centre set the earthquake at a magnitude of 6.6. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) had pegged the earthquake at a magnitude of 5.6.

The quake was centred about 158 km northeast of Pilibhit, a populous city in the neighbouring Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and occurred at a depth of 10 km, EMSC added. There were no reports of damage on the Indian side, though the quake woke up many residents of the capital New Delhi.