Tibet (TDI): A magnitude 6.8 earthquake rocked the northern foothills of the Himalayas near one of Tibet’s holiest cities on Tuesday, Chinese authorities said, killing at least 95 people and shaking buildings in neighbouring Nepal, Bhutan and India.
The quake hit at 9:05am (8:20am PST), with its epicenter located in Tingri, a rural Chinese county known as the northern gateway to the Everest region, at a depth of ten kilometers, Earthquake Networks Centre said.
The US Geological Service recorded the quake’s magnitude at 7.1.
At least 95 people had been killed and dozens wounded on the Tibetan side, according to Chinese media.
Southwestern parts of China, Nepal and northern India are frequently hit by quakes caused by the collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
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A magnitude 7.8 tremor struck near Kathmandu in 2015, killing approximately 9,000 people and wounding thousands in Nepal’s worst ever earthquake.
Among the dead were at least eighteen people killed at the Mount Everest base camp when it was hit by an avalanche.
Earthquake’s Epicenter
Tuesday’s epicenter was around 80 kilometers north of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain and a popular destination for climbers and trekkers.
Nepals National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said the earthquake was felt in seven hill districts bordering Tibet.
“So far we have not received any information of any damage,” Reuters quoted NDRRMA spokesman Dizan Bhattarai as saying.
“The police, security forces and local authorities are mobilised to collection information,” he said.
Many villages in the Nepalese border area, which are thinly populated, are remote and can only be reached by foot.
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The earthquake’s impact was felt throughout Tibet’s Shigatse region, home to 800,000 residents.
This area is governed by Shigatse city, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, a key figure in Tibetan Buddhism.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said all-out search and rescue operations should be carried out to minimise damage, properly resettle the affected individuals, and ensure a safe and warm winter.
