Tibet Earthquake Kills Dozens, Traps Many in Rubble “`
A powerful earthquake in Tibet on Tuesday resulted in at least 53 fatalities and left numerous individuals trapped beneath the debris, as a series of aftershocks rattled the western China region and neighboring Nepal.
The official Xinhua News Agency, citing the regional disaster relief headquarters, reported 62 additional injuries.
The Ministry of Emergency Management stated that approximately 1,500 fire and rescue personnel have been deployed to search for survivors among the wreckage.
The U.S. Geological Survey measured the earthquake at magnitude 7.1, occurring at a relatively shallow depth of about 10 kilometers (6 miles). China’s measurement was 6.8.
The epicenter was located roughly 75 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Mount Everest, situated on the border between China and Nepal. This seismically active area is where the India and Eurasia tectonic plates collide, causing the uplift of the Himalayan mountains and altering the heights of some of the world’s tallest peaks.
The China Earthquake Networks Center reported an average elevation of around 4,200 meters (13,800 feet) in the region surrounding the epicenter, via a social media post.
State broadcaster CCTV indicated that several communities are located within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the epicenter, which was 380 kilometers (240 miles) from Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, and approximately 23 kilometers (14 miles) from Shigatse (Xigaze in Chinese), the region’s second-largest city.
In Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, approximately 230 kilometers (140 miles) away, the earthquake roused residents, causing them to flee their homes. Information from the remote mountainous areas of Nepal closer to the epicenter was not immediately available.
The USGS reported that ten earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater have occurred in the area affected by Tuesday’s quake over the past century.
—Associated Press writer Binaj Gurubacharya in Kathmandu, Nepal, and researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.