Nepal earthquake kills at least 128 people

A strong earthquake shook northwestern Nepal districts just before midnight Friday, killing at least 128 people and injuring dozens dozens more, officials said Saturday.Authorities said the death toll was expected to rise, noting that communications were cut off with many places.As day broke, rescue helicopters flew into the region to help out and security forces on the ground were digging out the injured and dead from the rubble, Nepal police spokesman Kuber Kadayat said.In Jajarkot district, where the quake’s epicenter was, 92 people were confirmed dead and another 55 injured. Kadayat said.The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 and occurred at a depth of 11 miles. Nepal’s National Earthquake Monitoring & Research Center said its epicenter was at Jajarkot, which is about 250 miles northeast of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.Earthquakes are common in mountainous Nepal. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2015 killed some 9,000 people and damaged about 1 million structures.