A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Himalayan region of Tibet, southwest China, on Tuesday January 7. The material damage is significant. According to Chinese public television CCTV, “the tremors were very strongly felt in and around the canton of Dingri and many buildings collapsed near the epicenter”. The human toll is also significant. According to The World which reports the facts, at least fifty-three people died and sixty-two were injured.
Emergency services have already been mobilized on site. The New China news agency said that local authorities were going to go to the different communes of the canton of Dingri “in order to assess the repercussions of the earthquake”. Furthermore, the agency specifies that medical aid, cotton tents and quilts were urgently sent to the area.
Dingri, a territory with an extreme climate
The canton of Dingri has the particularity of being located at high altitude, not far from the Chinese side of Everest, details The World. At this time of year, temperatures go from one extreme to another for the 62,000 residents who reside there. During the day, the mercury averages 8 degrees and drops to almost -18°C once night falls. The Dingri region is no stranger to earthquakes given its location on the Himalayan range, but the January 7 earthquake is considered the most powerful recorded within a 200-kilometer radius in the last five years, according to the Center for seismic networks of China.
According to The Worldthe intensity of the earthquake was felt as far away as Kathmandu, Nepal. Other areas of Nepal also felt the earth shaking beneath their feet. “It shook quite hard here, everyone is awake but we are not aware of any damage at the moment,” said Jagat Prasad Bhusal, an official in Nepal’s northeastern Namche region. Ten years ago, a similar, even more powerful seismic phenomenon (magnitude of 7.8) hit Nepal, causing nearly 9,000 deaths and 22 injuries.
