A powerful earthquake that occurred on Tuesday January 7 in the Himalayan region of Tibet, in southwest China, left at least 95 dead and 130 injured and caused the collapse of “many buildings”, an earthquake felt until in neighboring Nepal.
The 6.8-magnitude quake struck the sparsely populated Dingri township, located near the China-Nepal border, at 9:05 a.m. (0105 GMT), according to China’s national earthquake agency ( CENC).
The American Geological Survey (USGS), for its part, reported an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 in the region. It was felt as far away as Kathmandu, Nepal. “The tremors were very strongly felt in and around the canton of Dingri, and many buildings collapsed near the epicenter,” public television CCTV said.
According to the latest reports, at least 95 people have already been killed, while 130 others have been injured. “Multiple aftershocks” were also recorded, the largest being magnitude 4.4. Videos broadcast by CCTV show white-colored houses at high altitude, with gutted walls and collapsed roofs, with many stones littering the ground.
Other images from public television show firefighters in helmets and orange outfits heading towards the scene of the disaster. The official Xinhua news agency said local authorities were visiting the canton’s various communes “to assess the repercussions of the earthquake”.
A region where earthquakes are frequent
This high altitude canton has around 62,000 inhabitants and is located not far from the Chinese side of Everest.
While earthquakes are common in the region, Tuesday’s quake was the most powerful recorded within a 200-kilometer radius in the last five years, the CENC said. In Nepal, in addition to Kathmandu, the areas around Namche and Lobuche, very close to the Everest base camp, were also hit by the earthquake and its aftershocks.
“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 the Namche region in northeastern Nepal.
The Himalayas lie on the divide between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates and experience regular seismic activity. In 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people and injured more than 22,000 in Nepal, destroying more than 500,000 homes.
With AFP
