A woman has been pulled alive from the rubble after an earthquake hit Nepal – miraculously walking away from a destroyed building.

At least 137 people were killed when the earthquake struck the west of the country late on Friday night.

The number of dead is expected to rise, with helicopters and troops drafted in to help find survivors.

A video captures one of the lucky ones: a woman dragged from the dusty rubble by a team of rescuers working by torchlight.

She holds a beam as someone uses a tool to hack at the debris around her. If the beam created a space for her head when the building collapsed, it may have saved her life.

There is shouting as rescuers grip the woman under the arms and pull her free, before she climbs away without apparent serious injury.

Witnesses said the earthquake caused houses to collapse and cut communications to many villages.

The earthquake happened at 11:47pm (6.02pm in the UK) in the Jajarkot district of Karnali province – 310 miles west of the capital Kathmandu.

Nepal’s National Seismological Centre said the magnitude was 6.4, while the US Geological Survey (USGS) put it at 5.6.

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“Houses have collapsed. People rushed out of their homes. I am out in the crowd of terrified residents. We are trying to find details of damages,” said a police official.

Rescuers worked overnight to pull injured people from the rubble. However, landslides in some areas blocked roads and made access difficult.

Medical personnel and supplies were being flown in by helicopter – with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal joining one flight.

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Ninety-two people were confirmed dead and 55 injured in Jajarkot, said police spokesman Kuber Kadayat.

He said at least 36 also died and more than 80 were injured in the neighbouring Rukum district.

Witnesses said the tremors were felt as far away as Kathmandu and New Delhi in India.

The quake occurred at a depth of 11.1 miles (17.9km), according to the USGS.

Earthquakes are common in Nepal – a 7.8-magnitude quake in 2015 killed about 9,000 people and damaged about a million structures.

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