a powerful earthquake leaves at least 95 dead and 130 injured, “many buildings” collapsed

A powerful earthquake occurred this Tuesday, January 7, 2025 in the Himalayan region of Tibet, in southwest China, left at least 955 dead, 130 injured and caused the collapse of “many buildings”, an earthquake felt as far away as neighboring Nepal.

The 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the sparsely populated township of Dingri, located near the Sino-Nepalese border, at 9:05 a.m. (01:05 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.

Very strong shaking

Videos broadcast by Chinese public television CCTV show white-colored dwellings at high altitude, with gutted walls and collapsed roofs, with numerous stones littering the ground.

Other images from the channel show firefighters in helmets and orange outfits heading towards the scene of the disaster, or even SUVs in a street, buried under bricks from the affected buildings.

“The tremors were very strongly felt in and around Dingri canton and many buildings collapsed near the epicenter,” CCTV said.
She reported “multiple aftershocks” since Tuesday morning, the largest being magnitude 4.4.

According to state media, 95 people died. new china indicated that the local authorities were going to the different communes of the canton “in order to assess the repercussions of the earthquake”. The results are therefore very provisional. 130 people are injured.

Freezing temperatures

Temperatures in Dingri County are around -8°C during the day and could drop to -18°C tonight, according to China’s National Meteorological Bureau.

This high altitude canton has around 62,000 inhabitants and is located not far from the Chinese side of Everest.

Although earthquakes are common in the region, Tuesday’s earthquake is the most powerful recorded within a 200 kilometer radius in the last five yearsindicated the CENC.

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.

Precedents

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.

A major earthquake occurred in December 2023 in northwest China and left 148 dead and thousands homeless in Gansu province (northwest).

The earthquake was the deadliest in China since 2014, when more than 600 people were killed in the country’s southwest province of Yunnan.

Source: AFP.

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