Quake shakes Tibet: 53 dead, hundreds flee in panic
On Tuesday morning Greenwich Mean Time, a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck Tibet, according to the Chinese seismology centre. There are fatalities. The tremors were felt in Nepal and India.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake was 7.1. The epicentre was located in the Tingri region, about 150 kilometres southwest of the city of Xigaze, at a depth of 10 kilometres.
The Chinese agency Xinhua confirmed the death of 53 people, and at least 62 people were injured.
This area is sparsely populated - approximately 6,900 people live within a 20-kilometre radius of the epicentre. The tremors were also felt in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and the Indian state of Bihar. Hundreds of frightened residents ran onto the streets.
“It shook quite strongly here, everyone woke up, but at the moment we have no information about any damages,” Jagat Prasad Bhusal, an official in the Namche region in northeastern Nepal, told AFP.
Earthquake in Tibet. Military conducting rescue operation
A total of over 500 soldiers and rescuers were mobilised for the search and rescue operation, along with four military helicopters and drones.
Seismological services reported that 49 aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 3 to 4.4 were recorded in the area within three hours.
Tibet is known for frequent earthquakes because it lies on the boundary of tectonic plates. In 2015, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 in Nepal killed nearly 9,000 people and left millions homeless.
Source: PAP
