32 people were killed after a powerful earthquake hit a remote region of Tibet on Tuesday morning.
Tibet Earthquake: In a tragic incident, at least 32 people were killed and several others injured after a powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.1 struck Tibet near the Nepalese border on Tuesday, news agency AFP reported, quoting China’s Xinhua. The powerful tremors were also felt in several parts of India, including Bihar, Assam, and West Bengal.
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The massive earthquake hit at 9:05 am. The epicentre was located in a rural county Tingri in the northern gateway to the Everest region. The depth of the tremors was 10 km (6.2 miles), as per the China Earthquake Networks Centre.
Nine people lost their lives on the Tibetan side, national television broadcaster CCTV reported.
The earthquake hit an area home to 800,000 people in Shigatse, a region that holds historical importance as the home of the Panchen Lama, a key figure in Tibetan Buddhism. Residents of Tingri endured powerful tremors, followed by aftershocks that reached up to 4.4 in magnitude. Videos shared on social media from Lhatse showed chaos, with storefronts damaged and debris littering the streets.
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An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 is considered strong, and capable of causing major destruction. As reported by China’s Xinhua news agency, local authorities were actively working with nearby towns to evaluate the damage and check for any casualties. The quake’s tremors reached as far as Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, located about 400 kilometers away, causing people to rush out of their homes in fear.
“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.
“We have mobilised police and other security forces as well as locals to collect information about the damage,” he added.
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The quake also hit Bhutan’s Thimphu and India’s Bihar which borders Nepal.
Currently, there are reports of any damage or loss to property have been received.
In 2008, Sichuan province in China witnessed a catastrophic earthquake that claimed the lives of almost 70,000 people. A similar tragedy struck in 2015 when a powerful 7.8 magnitude quake shook the area near Kathmandu, Nepal, resulting in around 9,000 deaths and countless injuries, marking it as Nepal’s deadliest earthquake.
Situated in a highly seismic zone, Nepal lies at the junction of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, whose collision creates the towering Himalayas and spurs frequent quakes. The 2015 disaster in Nepal didn’t just take nearly 9,000 lives; it also injured more than 22,000 individuals and left over half a million homes in ruins.
