Nepal earthquake kills at least six as tremors felt in New Delhi

Eight houses collapsed, seriously injuring five people, said police

A 6.6-magnitude earthquake killed at least six people in Nepal early on Wednesday and shook India's capital, New Delhi.

Eight houses collapsed, seriously injuring five people, said Bhola Bhatta, deputy superintendent of police in the western Nepalese district of Doti.

"Expressing my heartfelt condolences to the families of those who died in the earthquake," Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba wrote on Twitter.

"I have instructed the relevant agencies to arrange immediate and proper treatment of the injured and the victims."

A rescue team was rushed to the site and two helicopters were on standby in nearby Surkhet and Nepalgunj, Nepali army spokesman Narayan Silwal said.

Kalpana Shrestha, a senior official in Doti, said details were being collected from villages near the epicentre and that one child was among those rescued from under the debris.

Nepal's seismological centre registered the earthquake at a magnitude of 6.6. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said it was 5.6.

The quake was centred about 158 kilometres north-east of Pilibhit, a populous city in the neighbouring Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and occurred at a depth of 10km, the EMSC added.

Media reports after the quake showed tremors were also felt in New Delhi and surrounding areas, about 350km from Doti.

Nepal is still rebuilding after two major earthquakes in 2015 that killed almost 9,000 people, destroyed whole towns and centuries-old temples, and dealt a $6 billion blow to the economy.