BREAKUPBREAKUP,
Tremors were reported as far away as northern India and in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, where buildings shook.
Dozens of people are believed to have been killed after a powerful earthquake struck near Shigatse, Tibet’s second-largest city, according to Chinese and US monitoring groups, with the tremors felt hundreds of miles away in Nepal.
The earthquake occurred 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 Networks Centre, which recorded a magnitude 6.8 quake, while the United States Geological Survey reported the earthquake as a magnitude 7.1.
A 6.8 magnitude earthquake is considered powerful and capable of causing serious damage.
China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that nine people were killed in three townships – Changsuo, Quluo and Cuoguo – in Tingri county, near Shigatse, where many buildings collapsed. The Nanfang Daily reported shortly after that 36 people had now died.
Multiple aftershocks have since been reported, with the largest magnitude being 4.4 on the Richter scale, and local authorities are assessing damage and casualties in affected areas, Xinhua reports.
Very strong 7.0 #earthquake hits near Shigatse, Tibet, China – information, user reports and updates | January 7, 2025 at 9:05 a.m. (Shanghai time): https://t.co/WRKs73D34j
– Seismic Monitor (@EQAlerts) January 7, 2025
Reuters news agency said collapsed storefronts could be seen in a video showing the aftermath in Lhatse, located about 150 km (93 miles) east of the town of Shigatse, with debris pouring down on the road.
Shigatse is one of the holiest cities in Tibet and is 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.
Powerful tremors were also felt in the northern Indian state of Bihar and in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, about 400 km away, where residents were reported to have fled their homes as buildings shook .
Areas around Lobuche, in Nepal’s Himalayan region, near Mount Everest, were also rocked by the tremors and a series of aftershocks.
“There was strong shaking here, everyone is awake, but we are not yet informed about the damage,” said Jagat Prasad Bhusal, a government official in Nepal’s Namche region near Everest. .
Nepal: An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale struck 93 km northeast of Lobuche at 06:35:16 IST today. Strong tremors were felt in Kathmandu and other western districts. pic.twitter.com/ysEiNulN7L
– IANS (@ians_india) January 7, 2025
No casualties have been reported so far in Nepal, although police and other security forces have been mobilized to gather information on the impact of the earthquake, a local official told the news agency Reuters.
Nepal and parts of southwest China have been frequently hit by earthquakes.
According to CCTV, there have been 29 earthquakes with a magnitude of 3 or greater within a 200 km radius of the epicenter of the Shigatse quake in the past five years, all smaller than the most recent one.
A massive earthquake in China’s Sichuan province in 2008 killed nearly 70,000 people.
In 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, Nepal’s worst, struck near Kathmandu, killing around 9,000 people and injuring thousands.
