In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, people stand amidst damaged houses in the aftermath of an earthquake in Tonglai Village, Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China’s Tibet Autonomous Region on January 7, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP
A strong earthquake killed at least 53 people in Tibet on Tuesday (January 7, 2025) and left many others trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the region of western China and across the border in Nepal. The tremors were also felt in neighbouring Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and parts of India.
The official Xinhua News Agency said 62 other people were injured, citing the regional disaster relief headquarters.
About 1,500 fire and rescue workers were deployed to search for people in the rubble, the Ministry of Emergency Management said.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake measured magnitude 7.1 and was relatively shallow at a depth of about 10 kilometres (6 miles). China recorded the magnitude as 6.8.
Watch: 32 killed as strong earthquake strikes western China
The epicenter was about 75 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Mount Everest, which straddles the border. The area is seismically active and is where the India and Eurasia plates clash and cause uplifts in the Himalayan mountains strong enough to change the heights of some of the world’s tallest peaks.
The average altitude in the area around the epicenter is about 4,200 metres (13,800 feet), the China Earthquake Networks Center said in a social media post.
State broadcaster CCTV said there are a handful of communities within 5 kilometres (3 miles) of the epicenter, which was 380 kilometres (240 miles) from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and about 23 kilometres (14 miles) from the region’s second-largest city of Shigatse, known as Xigaze in Chinese.
About 230 kilometres (140 miles) away in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, the earthquake woke up residents and sent them running out of their homes into the streets. No information was immediately available from the remote, mountainous areas of Nepal closer to the epicenter.
There have been 10 earthquakes of at least magnitude 6 in the area where Tuesday’s quake hit over the past century, the USGS said.
Tremors felt in Nepal, India
In Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, the earthquake sent residents running out of their homes after they were woken up by the tremor. No information was immediately available from the remote, mountainous areas closer to the epicenter across the border.
There have been 10 earthquakes of at least magnitude 6 in the area where Tuesday’s quake hit over the past century, the USGS said.
Tremors were also felt in Bihar’s Madhubani.
The epicentre of the earthquake was Dinggye, China, according to the centre. The epicenter was located where the India and Eurasia plates clash and cause uplifts in the Himalayan mountains strong enough to change the heights of some of the world’s tallest peaks.
The earthquake was felt in neighbouring Kavrepalanchwok and Dhading districts as well. People came out of their houses out of panic in Kathmandu.
However, there are no reports of any damage so far due to the earthquake.
Areas around Lobuche in Nepal in the high mountains near Mount Everest were also rattled by the tremors and a series of aftershocks.
“It shook quite strongly here, everyone is awake, but we don’t know about any damages yet,” said government official Jagat Prasad Bhusal in Nepal’s Namche region, which lies nearer to Everest.
Published – January 07, 2025 08:20 am IST
