“Thirty-two people died and 38 were injured” during the earthquake, said the New China news agency, quoting the authorities. A previous report reported nine deaths.
“The tremors were very strongly felt in and around the canton of Dingri and many buildings collapsed near the epicenter,” said public television CCTV, stressing that “multiple aftershocks” had been recorded, the most important being magnitude 4.4.
The most powerful recorded within a 200 km radius since 2020
The official Xinhua news agency said local authorities were visiting the canton’s various communes “to assess the repercussions of the earthquake.”
Temperatures there are around -8°C during the day and could drop to -18°C tonight, according to China’s National Meteorological Bureau.
This Tibetan canton, located at high altitude, 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.
An earthquake felt in Nepal
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.
