A strong earthquake hits Shigatse in Tibet and tremors were felt in Kathmandu in Nepal Earthquake news

breakbreak,

Earthquakes were reported in northern India and in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, where buildings shook.

A powerful earthquake has struck Shigatse, Tibet’s second-largest city, according to Chinese and American monitoring groups, and tremors were felt hundreds of kilometers away in Nepal.

The quake occurred at 9:05 a.m. local time (01:05 GMT) on Tuesday at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center, which recorded a magnitude 6.8 earthquake, while the US Geological Survey reported a magnitude 7.1 earthquake. degree.

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake is considered powerful and capable of causing significant damage.

State broadcaster CCTV said there were a few communities within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the epicenter, which was about 380 kilometers (236 miles) from the Tibetan capital Lhasa.

Reuters news agency said that collapsed storefronts could be seen in a video showing the effects of the earthquake in the town of Lats near Shigatse, with debris scattered on the road.

Very strong 7.0 #earthquake Visits near Shigatse, Tibet, China – Information, user reports and updates | January 7, 2025, 09:05 AM (Shanghai time): https://t.co/WRKs73D34j

— Earthquake Monitor (@EQAlerts) January 7, 2025

The New China News Agency (Xinhua) said that the earthquake caused the collapse of houses in Tonglai village in Tengri Province, Tibet, and potential losses are being assessed.

Strong tremors were also felt in the northern Indian state of Bihar and in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, about 400 kilometers (248 miles) away, where residents reportedly fled their homes when buildings shook.

Earthquakes and a series of aftershocks also shook the areas around Lobuchi in the Himalayan region of Nepal near Mount Everest.

“It shook strongly here, and everyone is awake, but we don’t know any damage yet,” said Jagat Prasad Bhosal, a government official in Nepal’s Namchi district, which is located near Mount Everest.

The southwestern parts of China are frequently exposed to earthquakes.

According to CCTV, 29 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher have occurred within 200 kilometers (124 miles) of the Shigatse quake’s epicenter in the past five years, all of which were smaller than the most recent.

A huge earthquake struck the Chinese province of Sichuan in 2008, killing nearly 70,000 people.

In 2015, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, the worst in Nepal, struck near Kathmandu, killing about 9,000 people and injuring thousands.