A powerful earthquake kills at least 95 people in western China near Mount Everest

A powerful earthquake killed at least 95 people in Tibet on Tuesday and left many others trapped as dozens of aftershocks rocked the high-altitude region in western China and across the border in Nepal.

Officials in the region said in a brief press conference that 130 others were injured, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Video broadcast by CCTV showed rescue workers in orange jumpsuits climbing over piles of debris blocking homes in a badly damaged village, while fallen pieces of buildings scattered streets and crushed cars in other areas.

State media reported that about 1,000 homes were damaged, citing the Tibet Earthquake Relief Headquarters.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake measured 7.1 magnitude and was relatively shallow at a depth of about 10 kilometers. China recorded a strength of 6.8.

The epicenter of the earthquake was about 75 kilometers northeast of Mount Everest, which straddles the border between China and Nepal. The region is seismically active and is where the Indian and Eurasian plates collide and cause Himalayan uplifts powerful enough to change the heights of some of the world’s highest peaks.

Mount Everest area is closed

About 50 aftershocks were recorded in the three hours after the quake, and the scenic Mount Everest region on the Chinese side was closed after the quake.

The Ministry of Emergency Management said about 1,500 fire and rescue workers were deployed to search for people. CCTV said that two hundred soldiers joined the search operation.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to rescue people, reduce losses and resettle those whose homes were damaged. Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing was sent to the area to direct the work.

CCTV said there was a cluster of communities five kilometers from the epicenter, which was 380 kilometers from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and about 23 kilometers from Shigatse, the region’s second-largest city, known as Shigazi in Chinese.

The average elevation in the area surrounding the epicenter is about 4,200 metres, the China Earthquake Networks Center said in a post on social media.

The tremors were felt in Nepal

In Nepal, the authorities asked officials in the mountainous area near the epicenter of the earthquake to search for any victims or damage.

The National Emergency Operations Center in Kathmandu said the earthquake was strongly felt by people in northeastern Nepal, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage to homes.

A police officer in Solukhumbu district, where Mount Everest is located, said by phone that there were no reports of damage. The area, often crowded with climbers and hikers, was empty in the dead of winter. Many residents move south to avoid the harsh winters.

About 230 kilometers from the epicenter in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, the earthquake awakened residents and forced them to leave their homes and onto the streets.

The US Geological Survey said that 10 earthquakes with a magnitude of at least 6 on the Richter scale occurred in the area struck by Tuesday’s earthquake over the past century.