Tibet Earthquake Leaves Nearly 100 Dead & Impacted Nepal
On Tuesday, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake shook the northern Himalayan foothills near one of Tibet’s holiest cities killing at least 95 people and shaking buildings in neighboring Nepal, Bhutan and India.
The earthquake struck at 9:05 a.m. (0105 GMT) with its epicentre in Tingri, a rural county regarded as the northern gateway to the Everest region at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles) according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre.
Six hours later, China’s state run television announced that at least 95 people had died and 130 had been injured on the Tibetan side.
There were no reports of fatality elsewhere in Nepal, Bhutan and India. The collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates frequently causes earthquakes in southwestern China, Nepal and northern India.
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Tuesday’s epicenter was approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak and a popular climbing and trekking destination.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said that the earthquakes were detected in seven highland districts bordering Tibet.
The earthquake was felt throughout Tibet’s Shigatse province which is home to 800,000 people. Shigatse city, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama is one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most prominent figures and administers the region.
Chinese President Xi Jinping stated that all out search and rescue measures should be conducted to reduce casualties, effectively resettle impacted people and ensure a safe and warm winter. More than 1,500 local firefighters and rescue workers have been rushed to the impacted districts.
Villages around Tingri where the average height is roughly 4,000-5,000 metres (13,000-16,000 feet) reported significant shaking during the quake which was followed by dozens of aftershocks with magnitudes as high as 4.4.
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