A powerful earthquake killed at the least 53 folks in Tibet and left many others trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the area of western China and throughout the border in Nepal.
The official Xinhua Information Company mentioned 62 different folks have been injured within the quake on Tuesday, citing the regional catastrophe reduction headquarters. Some 1,500 fireplace and rescue employees have been deployed to seek for folks within the rubble, the Ministry of Emergency Administration mentioned.
The earthquake struck at 9:05am native time (01:05 GMT) on Tuesday at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles), in accordance with the China Earthquake Networks Centre, which recorded a magnitude 6.8 quake. In the meantime, america Geological Survey reported the earthquake to be magnitude 7.1.
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake is taken into account robust and able to inflicting extreme harm. A number of aftershocks have additionally been reported, with the most important measuring a magnitude 4.4.
Xinhua reported that at the least 9 folks have been killed in three townships – Changsuo, Quluo and Cuoguo – in Shigatse’s surrounding Tingri county, the place many buildings had collapsed, and native media report that dozens of individuals are identified to have died.
Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, mentioned photos popping out of the affected areas present many collapsed buildings and houses.
“These are very distant villages in mountainous areas which are tough to entry and that issue will likely be elevated by the truth that it’s winter now, very chilly and never very near any main metropolis,” Yu mentioned.
“Thus far, the numbers that we’ve got acquired from the authorities are 36 useless and 68 folks injured. We’re, sadly, watching that quantity and anticipating that to climb,” she mentioned.
The Reuters information company mentioned that crumbled store fronts could possibly be seen in a video displaying the aftermath in Lhatse, positioned about 150km (93 miles) east of Shigatse metropolis, with particles spilling onto the highway.
Shigatse is one in every of Tibet’s holiest cities and the seat of the Panchen Lama, some of the vital figures in Tibetan Buddhism, whose non secular authority is second solely to the Dalai Lama.
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