Dozens killed in major earthquake in southwestern China
BEIJING, Jan. 7 (QNA) – A powerful earthquake shook China’s Tibetan region and was felt hundreds of kilometers away in Nepal.
According to the China Earthquake Network Center (CENC), a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Dinli province near the Nepal border on Tuesday morning at a depth of 10 kilometers.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake as a magnitude 7.1.
“Thirty-two people were confirmed dead and 38 injured in the magnitude 6.8 earthquake that struck Dingli County, Shigaze City, Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region at 9:05 a.m. on Tuesday,” Xinhua News Agency quoted a local newspaper as saying. reported. Disaster relief headquarters.
State broadcaster CCTV earlier reported that “very strong shaking occurred in Dinli province and surrounding areas, and many buildings near the epicenter collapsed.”
Several aftershocks have been reported since then, the largest having a magnitude of 4.4. According to Xinhua news agency, local authorities are assessing the damage and casualties in the affected areas.
This highland prefecture in the Tibetan region has a population of approximately 62,000 people and is located on the Chinese side of Mount Everest.
Earthquakes are common in the region, but Tuesday’s quake was the strongest recorded within a radius of 200 kilometers in the past five years, CENC added.
Like Kathmandu, areas around Nepal’s Lobuche, a high mountain near Mount Everest, were also shaken by tremors and aftershocks.
However, Rishi Ram Tiwari, spokesperson for Nepal’s interior minister, said no damage or deaths had been reported so far.
Some tremors were also felt in the Indian state of Bihar, but no injuries were reported. (QNA)
