Rescuers struggle to find Nepal earthquake survivors as aid trickles in

‘It felt like the world had collapsed and I was not sure if anyone had even survived and would be able to help’

Rescue workers in Nepal were still searching for survivors under the rubble of collapsed houses in the northwest mountains struck by a strong earthquake over the weekend.

At least 157 people were killed after a powerful earthquake struck the Jajarkot region in Karnali province, about 250 miles from the capital Kathmandu, shortly before midnight on Saturday.

The earthquake was reported to be of 6.4 magnitude, according to Nepal’s National Seismological Centre. The German Research Centre for Geosciences measured it at 5.7 and the US Geological Survey at 5.6.

According to authorities, it was the country's worst quake in eight years since the devastating 2015 tremors that killed about 9,000 people.

Nepal's authorities on Monday pressed on with efforts to bring food and other supplies, tents and medicines to the remote villages, some of which are only reachable by foot.

The process of delivering aid was slowed by road blockades due to landslides triggered by the earthquake. The military have been pressed into action to clear the blocked roads.

Survivors search for their belongings through the ruins of damaged houses following an earthquake in Khalanga of Jajarkot district, Nepal (AFP via Getty Images)

Earlier a small aeroplane carrying medical supplies and health workers was diverted to nearby Surkhet after it failed to land in Chaurjahari in nearby Rukum district due to bad weather.

"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," Harish Chandra Sharma, a government official told the Associated Press.

The National Emergency Operation Centre in Kathmandu said at least 256 people were injured and 3,891 houses were damaged.

Some villagers returned to the rubble of the houses to salvage what was left of their belongings while others cremated their dead kin.

Villagers construct makeshift shelter in Chepare village, Nepal (EPA)

The death toll included 105 people killed in Jajarkot and 52 in neighbouring Rukum West district, Rama Acharya, an official in the disaster department of the federal home ministry, told Reuters.

Nepal's National Seismological Centre said 175 aftershocks were recorded in Jajarkot and six of them were of magnitude 4 or higher. Three towns and three villages were known to be affected in Jajarkot, which has a population of 190,000 with villages scattered in remote hills

An aerial view shows family members and villagers gathered around the bodies of earthquake victims (AFP via Getty Images)

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.

"Most of what belonged to us is under the rubble, all our beds, clothes, whatever jewellery and money we had, it's all under there," said Nirmala Sharma, pointing to her wrecked home.

She said they got a tent and some food on Sunday night. Authorities distributed rice, oil, instant noodles and salt in the village, to last them for a few days. Tarpaulin and plastic sheets made for temporary shelters for a lucky few while thousands of others spent a third night.

Mina Bika was sleeping on Friday when the ceiling collapsed and buried her along with her family, a relative said, who pulled them from underneath the debris.

“It felt like the world had collapsed and I was not sure if anyone had even survived and would be able to help,” she said.

Additional reporting by agencies