Posted on 09 November 2023
On 3 November, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit the Jajarkot and Rukum Districts of Karnali Province in Nepal, killing 153 people. There has been widespread damage, with landslides blocking majority of access to the most affected areas.
Multiple aftershocks have been reported, including a 5.2 earthquake on 6 November in the same region of the original tremor, exasperating much of the existing damage.
The UN predicts that approximately 1.3 million people were impacted by the quake, and 250,000 people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance including medical supplies, food, water, WASH and warm gear as temperatures plummet.
This is Nepal's biggest earthquake since the destructive 7.3 shock in 2015, and IFRC says “the impact of this latest earthquake is thus compounding the difficulties and vulnerabilities of communities still recovering from previous shocks in areas where low socio-economic indicators and stretched coping mechanisms were already prevalent.”