Approach to Mount Everest (center) through the Tibetan region of Tingri (in 2005)
The border region between Tibet and Nepal not far from Mount Everest was shaken by a strong earthquake today. According to Chinese reports, it reached a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale, while the US earthquake observatory measured a magnitude of 7.1.
Chinese state media reported at least around 100 dead and hundreds injured on the Tibetan side. The epicenter was in the county of Tingri, around 80 kilometers north of Everest.
Tingri is the gateway for many mountaineers and trekking tourists making their way to the Tibetan north side of Mount Everest – or to the north side of the eight-thousander Cho Oyu.
In the Khumbu, the region on the Nepalese south side of Everest, the earth also shook. No major damage has been reported from there so far. The earth tremors were also felt in the capital Kathmandu, as well as in the neighboring countries of Bhutan and India.
Memories of 2015 in Nepal
In Nepal, painful memories of the devastating earthquake in April 2015 came flooding back. Almost ten years ago, around 9,000 people lost their lives and 23,000 were injured. More than 700,000 houses collapsed or were severely damaged.
The German mountaineer Jost Kobusch, who is currently making an Everest winter attempt, was on his way to Lho La at the time of today’s earthquake. The pass from the Everest Valley on the Nepalese side to Tibet, which is around 6000 meters high, is the start of his planned route via the West Ridge. Jost’s GPS tracker shows that he is now apparently on his way back towards the settlement of Lobuche.
