A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck the northern foothills of the Himalayas near a holy city in Tibet on Tuesday. It killed at least 95 people and caused buildings to shake in Nepal, Bhutan, and India, authorities said.
The quake occurred at 9:05 a.m. (local time) in Tingri, a rural area near Mount Everest, at a depth of 10 km, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre. The U.S. Geological Service measured it at 7.1 magnitude. Most of the casualties and damage were reported in Tibet, with no deaths confirmed in neighboring countries.
This region often experiences earthquakes because of the collision between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The epicenter was about 80 km north of Mount Everest, a popular climbing destination, though it is not peak climbing season now.
Nepalese officials reported tremors in seven districts near the Tibetan border but no casualties or property damage. Many remote villages in the area are hard to reach. In Tibet’s Shigatse region, home to 800,000 people, the quake caused significant damage, with over 1,000 houses affected.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered rescue efforts, and over 1,500 firefighters and rescuers were sent to the area. Relief supplies such as tents, coats, quilts, and beds were also dispatched.
Tingri experienced strong shaking and multiple aftershocks. Over 6,900 people live within 20 km of the epicenter, and authorities closed the Everest region to tourists after the quake.
The quake was caused by tectonic stress in an area known as the Lhasa block. Since 1950, there have been 21 major earthquakes in this region.
In 2015, a 7.8-magnitude quake near Kathmandu killed 9,000 people and injured thousands, including 18 climbers at Everest base camp. On Tuesday, tremors were felt in Kathmandu, 400 km from the epicenter, causing panic among residents. One person in Kathmandu was injured after jumping off a building.
The quake was also felt in Bhutan’s capital, Thimphu, and in India’s Bihar state, but no major damage was reported in these areas.