Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
BREAKINGBREAKING,
Tremors were reported as far away as northern India and Nepal's capital Kathmandu, where buildings shook.
Dozens have been reported dead after a strong earthquake struck near Tibet's second-largest city of Shigatse, according to Chinese and US monitoring groups, with tremors felt hundreds of kilometers away in Nepal.
The quake struck at 9:05 a.m. local time (01:05 GMT) on Tuesday at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), according to the China Earthquake Network Center, which registered a magnitude of 6.8, while the Geological Survey of the United States reported the earthquake would have a magnitude of 7.1.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 is considered strong and capable of causing serious damage. Multiple aftershocks were also reported, with the largest measuring 4.4.
China's official Xinhua news agency said nine people were killed in three towns – Changsuo, Kuluo and Kuoguo – in Shigatse's surrounding Tingri County, where many buildings collapsed, and local media reported that they were known to have died dozens of people.
Al Jazeera's Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, said images coming in from the affected areas showed many collapsed buildings and homes.
“These are very remote villages in mountainous areas that are difficult to access, and this difficulty will be increased by the fact that it is now winter, very cold, and not very close to a big city,” Yu said.
“So far, the data we have received from the authorities is 36 dead and 68 injured. Unfortunately, we are watching that number and expect it to go up,” she said.
Very strong 7.0 #earthquake hits near Shigatse, Tibet, China – information, user reports and updates | January 7, 2025, 9:05 am (Shanghai time): https://t.co/WRKs73D34j
— Earthquake Monitor (@EQAlerts) January 7, 2025
Reuters news agency said collapsed shop fronts could be seen in a video showing the aftermath in Lhatse, located about 150 km (93 miles) east of the town of Shigatse, with debris strewn along the road.
Shigatse is one of Tibet's holiest cities and the seat of the Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism, whose spiritual authority is second only to the Dalai Lama.
Strong tremors were also felt in the northern Indian state of Bihar and in Nepal's capital Kathmandu, about 400 kilometers (248 miles) away, where residents were reported to have fled their homes as buildings shook.
Areas around Lobuche in Nepal's Himalayan region near Mount Everest were also rocked by the quake and a series of aftershocks.
“It shook pretty hard here, everyone is awake, but we don't know of any damage yet,” said Jagat Prasad Bhusal, a government official in Nepal's Namche district, which is near Everest.
Nepal: A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck 93 km northeast of Lobuche at 06:35:16 IST today. Strong tremors were felt in Kathmandu and other western areas pic.twitter.com/ysEiNulN7L
— IANS (@ians_india) January 7, 2025
There have been no reports of casualties in Nepal so far, although police and other security forces have been mobilized to gather information about the impact of the earthquake, a local official told Reuters.
Nepal and southwestern parts of China are often hit by earthquakes.
According to CCTV, there have been 29 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher within 200 km (124 miles) of the Shigatse quake's epicenter in the past five years, all of which were smaller than the last one.
Strong earthquake in China's Sichuan province in 2008. killed almost 70,000 people.
In 2015 A 7.8-magnitude earthquake, Nepal's worst, struck near Kathmandu, killing about 9,000 people and injuring thousands.
