The tremor, also felt in Nepal, struck close to one of Tibet's holiest cities.
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| Residents of Kathmandu, Nepal, rushed out of their homes Tuesday after feeling tremors from an earthquake centered in Tibet. |
Jan. 7, 2025, 10:45 AM GMT+6 / Updated Jan. 7, 2025, 11:22 AM GMT+6
HONG KONG — A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck near one of Tibet’s holiest cities on Tuesday, claiming the lives of at least 53 people, according to Chinese state media.
The earthquake, recorded just after 9 a.m. local time (8 p.m. ET Monday), occurred at a depth of nearly 6 miles, as reported by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The tremor, which Chinese authorities recorded as a magnitude 6.8, hit Dingri County in Shigatse, a mountainous region in western China bordering Nepal. Shigatse, located about 240 miles from the Tibetan capital Lhasa, is home to the Panchen Lama, the second-most important spiritual figure in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.
At least 53 people were reported dead, with 62 others injured, according to China’s state-run news agency, Xinhua. Many houses near the epicenter collapsed, trapping some people under the debris.
Around 6,900 people live in more than two dozen villages within 12 miles of the epicenter, as reported by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Chinese authorities have deployed nearly 1,500 fire and rescue personnel to the affected area. The full extent of the disaster is still being assessed. Tremors were also felt in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, about 250 miles away, where residents were awakened by the shaking. No immediate damage was reported there.
The Himalayan region, located on the fault line between the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, is prone to earthquakes. The U.S. Geological Survey notes that there have been 10 quakes with magnitudes of 6 or higher within a 150-mile radius of Tuesday’s epicenter over the past century.
In 2008, a massive earthquake in Sichuan province killed nearly 70,000 people.
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