Dozens killed in earthquake that hit Tibet, tremors felt in Nepal | News about earthquakes
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Earthquakes were recorded as far away as northern India and Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, where buildings shook.
Dozens are reported dead after a powerful earthquake hit Tibet’s second-largest city of Shigatse, according to Chinese and US monitoring groups, with tremors felt hundreds of kilometers away in Nepal.
The quake struck at 9:05 a.m. local time (01:05 GMT) on Tuesday at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), according to the China Earthquake Network Center, which recorded a magnitude of 6.8, while the Geological Institute of the United States reported the earthquake will have a magnitude of 7.1.
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake is considered strong and can cause serious damage. Several aftershocks were also recorded, the largest of which had a magnitude of 4.4.
China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported that nine people were killed in three townships – Changsuo, Quluo and Cuoguo – in Tingri County surrounding Shigatse, where many buildings collapsed, and local media reported that dozens of people were known to have died.
Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, says images coming in from the affected areas show many collapsed buildings and houses.
“These are very remote villages in mountainous areas that are difficult to access and those difficulties will be increased by the fact that it is now winter, very cold and not very close to any major cities,” Yu said.
“So far, the figures we have received from the authorities are 36 dead and 68 injured. “Unfortunately, we are monitoring that figure and expect it to increase,” she said.
Very strong 7.0 #earthquake hits near Shigatse, Tibet, China – information, user reports and updates | January 7, 2025 at 09:05 (Shanghai time): https://t.co/WRKs73D34j
— Earthquake Monitor (@EQAlerts) January 7, 2025
Reuters news agency said collapsed shop windows could be seen in video footage showing the aftermath in Lhatse, located about 150 km (93 miles) east of the city of Shigatse, with debris strewn across the road.
Shigatse is one of the holiest cities in Tibet and the seat of the Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism, whose spiritual authority is second only to the Dalai Lama.
Strong tremors were also felt in the northern Indian state of Bihar and in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, about 400 km (248 miles) away, where residents reportedly fled their homes as buildings shook.
Areas around Lobuche in Nepal’s Himalayan region near Mount Everest were also rocked by the earthquake and a series of aftershocks.
“It shook a lot here, everyone is awake, but we don’t know of any damage yet,” said Jagat Prasad Bhusal, a government official in Nepal’s Namche region, which is near Everest.
Nepal: An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale struck 93 km northeast of Lobuche, today at 06:35:16 IST. Strong ground tremors were felt across Kathmandu and other western districts pic.twitter.com/ysEiNulN7L
— IANS (@ians_india) January 7, 2025
There have been no reports of casualties in Nepal so far, although police and other security forces have been mobilized to gather information on the impact of the quake, a local official told the Reuters news agency.
Nepal and southwestern parts of China were frequently hit by earthquakes.
According to CCTV, there have been 29 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher within 200 km (124 miles) of the Shigatse quake’s epicenter in the past five years, all smaller than the latest.
In the great earthquake in the Chinese province of Sichuan in 2008, almost 70,000 people died.
In 2015, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, Nepal’s worst, struck near Kathmandu, killing about 9,000 people and injuring thousands.
