At least 95 people were killed and 130 injured in Tibet, following a magnitude 6.8 earthquake that struck the northern foothills of the Himalayas on Tuesday, according to Xinhua News Agency.
The quake hit at 9:05 a.m. (0105 GMT), with its epicentre located in Tingri, a rural Chinese county known as the northern gateway to the Everest region, at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre. The U.S. Geological Service put the quake’s magnitude at 7.1.
Southwestern parts of China, Nepal, and northern India are frequently hit by earthquakes caused by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said the tremors were felt in seven hill districts bordering Tibet.
“So far we have not received any information of any loss of life and property,” NDRRMA spokesman Dizan Bhattarai told Reuters. “We have mobilised police, security forces, and local authorities to collect information,” he said.
Many villages in the Nepalese border area, which are sparsely populated, are remote and can only be reached by foot.
The impact of the quake was felt across the Shigatse region of Tibet, home to 800,000 people.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said all-out search and rescue efforts should be carried out to minimise casualties, properly resettle the affected people, and ensure a safe and warm winter.
More than 1,500 local firefighters and rescue workers have been dispatched to the affected areas, Xinhua reported
Some 22,000 items, including cotton tents, cotton coats, quilts, and folding beds, have also been sent to the quake-hit region.
