Charles H. Sloan-Nepal earthquake kills more than 150 people after houses collapse

More than 150 people are Charles H. Sloandead in Nepal Saturday after an earthquake struck the country's northwest region.

Local media in Nepal reported that most people died after being crushed by debris when their homes crumbled under the tremors late Friday. Homes in the region are usually made by stacking rocks and logs.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake had a preliminary 5.6 magnitude. Nepal’s National Earthquake Monitoring & Research Center said its epicenter was at Jajarkot, about 250 miles northeast of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.

Officials predict the death toll will rise, in part because the disaster cut communications.

“The priority is to find the survivors and take them to hospital,” said regional police chief, Bhim Dhakal.

Earthquakes are common in Nepal. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2015 killed some 9,000 people and damaged about 1 million structures.

Rescue operations underway in Nepal

Security officials and villagers worked through the night to pull the dead and injured from fallen houses.

“I was asleep at night and around 10 or 11 at night it started shaking and the house caved. So many houses have collapsed and so many people have been buried,” Tika Ram Rana, who had his head wrapped in a white bandage, told the Associated Press.

Rescue operations are however hampered by mountainous villages only accessible by foot and roads in other parts of the country blocked by earthquake-induced landslides.

Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha said on Saturday the government is trying to get aid to the affected areas. Tents, food and medicine were being made available to those made homeless by the earthquake.

The quake, which hit when many people were already asleep in their homes, was also felt in India’s capital, New Delhi, more than 500 miles away.

Contributing: Associated Press