 "Houses completely damaged in Shigatse, southwestern China's Tibet region, after an earthquake hit the area. AFP | Handout.")
At least 95 people were killed, over 130 others were injured after a powerful earthquake of 7.1 magnitude struck near the Nepal-Tibet border around 6:35 am on Tuesday.
China’s news agency Xinhua on Tuesday said that a total of 95 people have been confirmed dead and 130 others injured as of 3 pm (local time), after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Tingri County in the city of Xigaze in southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region at 9:05 am on January 7.
More than a thousand houses have been damaged, Xinhua report said.
According to a report by China’s state broadcaster CCTV, the casualties were reported in China’s remote Tibet region where “many buildings” were also collapsed.
The earthquake was so severe that the tremors shook Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and several places in India including Delhi-NCR, Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said that the epicenter of the quake was in China’s Tibet region, about 93 km northeast of Lobuche, which is situated near the Khumbu Glacier in Nepal and lies around 150 kilometres east of Kathmandu. Also, it is close to the Everest Base Camp.
China’s earthquake monitoring agency - China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) - recorded the quake’s magnitude as 6.8, with the epicentral region at an altitude of about 4,200 metres (13,800 feet).
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“Tingri county and its surrounding areas experienced very strong tremors, and many buildings near the epicenter have collapsed,” state broadcaster CCTV reported.
There were also reports of “multiple aftershocks,” the largest measuring 4.4 in magnitude.
The USGS said that there have been 10 earthquakes of at least magnitude 6 in the area where Tuesday’s quake hit over the past century.
Also Read: Earthquake of 7.1 magnitude hits Nepal, tremors felt in Delhi-NCR, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam
Rescue efforts on amid freezing temperatures
Footages surfacing on channels and social media showed rescue workers wading through rubble strewn across the ruins in the aftermath of the earthquake, while some gave locals thick blankets to keep warm in subzero temperatures.
According to China Meteorological Administration, temperatures in Tingri are around minus 8 degrees Celsius and will drop to minus 18 by this evening.
The high-altitude county in the Tibet region is home to around 62,000 people and situated on the Chinese side of Mount Everest.
As per Xinhua report, “local authorities are reaching out to various townships in the county to assess the impact of the quake”.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasised “the all-out search and rescue efforts, minimizing casualties to the greatest extent possible, properly resettling affected residents, and ensuring their safety and warmth through the winter.”
Nepal earthquake
In Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, the earthquake sent residents running out of their homes after they woke up by the tremor.
“It shook quite strongly here, everyone is awake,” a report by AFP quoted Jagat Prasad Bhusal, a government official in Nepal’s Namche region, which lies nearer to Everest, as saying.
The quake also jolted Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan.
Meanwhile, Nepal is vulnerable to earthquakes as it lies on a major geological faultline where the Indian tectonic plate pushes up into the Eurasian plate, forming the Himalayas, and earthquakes are a regular occurrence.
Nearly 9,000 people died and more than 22,000 were injured in 2015, when a 7.8-magnitude quake struck Nepal, destroying more than half a million homes.
With inputs from agencies.