Six earthquakes, including a strong one with a magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter scale, shook Tibet in an hour, killing at least 95 people and injuring over 130 more. Buildings in several parts of India, Nepal, and Bhutan were shaken by the earthquakes.
According to local media cited by news agency Reuters, the earthquake in Tibet’s Shigatse area claimed the lives of at least 95 individuals. According to China’s official media, 130 more people were hurt.
Chinese media reported that a number of structures near the epicentre also collapsed. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that “several structures around the epicentre have collapsed, and Dingri county and its neighbouring areas experienced very intense tremors.”
One of the most significant personalities in Tibetan Buddhism, the Panchen Lama, has historically resided in Shigatse, which is home to 800,000 people.
Delhi-NCR and other portions of North India, including Patna, the capital of Bihar, and several places in the state’s north, experienced strong earthquakes. West Bengal and the northeastern states, including Assam, were also affected by the earthquake.
Strong tremors caused people of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, to allegedly flee their homes. The tremors were reported in seven highland regions that border Tibet, according to the nation’s disaster management authorities.
“I was dozing off. I assumed my toddler was moving the bed since it was trembling. I did not really listen, but I knew it was an earthquake because of the window’s trembling. After that, I quickly called my child, left the house, and rushed to the open space,” Kathmandu resident Meera Adhikari told news agency ANI.
The first earthquake of magnitude 7.1 occurred at 6:35 am in Xizang, which is close to the Nepal-Tibet border, according to the National Centre for Seismology. This intensity is regarded as powerful and has the potential to do significant harm. The second-largest city in Tibet, Shigatse, had a magnitude of 6.8, according to Chinese officials.
From the same Xizang region, two aftershocks with intensities of 4.7 and 4.9 were recorded. The epicentre was found where the plates of India and Eurasia collide, causing the Himalayan Mountains to experience powerful uplifts that alter the heights of some of the highest peaks in the world.
China’s national broadcaster CCTV reports that in the last five years, 29 earthquakes with a magnitude of three or higher has occurred within 200 kilometers of Shigatse city, all of which were smaller than the recent earthquake.
-NSH Digidesk
