Dozens killed as 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit China’s Tibet
The mountainous region is prone to quakes because of colliding tectonic plates.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Dozens of people were killed on Tuesday and many buildings destroyed when a powerful earthquake struck Tibet in western China, according to U.S. and Chinese agencies. Tremors were felt hundreds of kilometres away in neighboring Nepal and India.
The earthquake hit at 9:05 a.m. (20:05 ET on Monday) at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in Dingri County in the Shigatse prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region, near the border with Nepal, said the China Earthquake Networks Centre, which recorded a magnitude 6.8 quake.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported the earthquake was of magnitude 7.1. Multiple aftershocks of magnitudes of more than 4 struck the region.
China’s state-owned media agency Xinhua said 95 people have been confirmed dead, and 130 injured as of 3 p.m Tuesday. More than 1,000 buildings were destroyed in one county alone.
Rescue teams have been deployed, Chinese media reported.
Radio Free Asia attempted to contact sources in Tibet but communication was difficult due to disrupted internet and electricity services. Sources in neighboring Nepal told RFA that many people in Tibet were believed to be trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.
In video footage sourced by RFA, significant damage can be seen, with many buildings reduced to rubble. In one video, a Tibetan woman can be heard crying out for trapped family members.
Dingri County has a population of about 60,000, according to a 2020 census. Within 5 kilometers of the epicenter are the villages of Tangren, Xuezhu, Garegoji, and Meiduo, while Tsosang and Chulho townships are within 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) of the impact zone, Chinese state media reported.
Tremors were also felt in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu some 400 kilometers (250 miles) away, where residents ran from their houses, Reuters news agency reported.
“We felt a very strong earthquake. So far we have not received any report of injuries or physical loss,” said Anoj Raj Ghimire, chief district officer of Solukhumbu district in Nepal, cited by Reuters.
The earthquake also hit Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, and the northern Indian state of Bihar which borders Nepal, said Reuters.
Southwestern parts of China and Nepal have been hit frequently by earthquakes.
A huge earthquake in China’s Sichuan province in 2008 killed almost 70,000 people, while in 2015, a magnitude 7.8 quake, Nepal’s worst, hit near Kathmandu, killing about 9,000 people and injuring thousands.
A 7.1 magnitude earthquake can cause extensive structural damage, severe ground shaking, landslides and fatalities, particularly in densely populated or poorly constructed areas, with risks of power outages, gas leaks, and tsunamis if near the coast.
There have been 29 earthquakes with magnitudes of 3 or higher within 200 kilometers (124 miles) of the epicenter of Tingri in the past five years, according to China’s state-run broadcaster CCTV.
Edited by Mike Firn.
