Temblor: Tibet earthquake, measuring 7.1, kills nearly 100; shakes Nepal
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: A powerful earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the Richter Scale, rocked Tibet on Tuesday morning, killing nearly 100 people and injuring as many, while the aftershocks also shook Nepal and some other Himalayan areas, the media reported.
The high magnitude temblor struck a remote mountainous region in Tibet, in western China, near the Nepal border on Tuesday morning.
Earlier, reports said a 6.8-magnitude earthquake killed at least 53 people and injured 62 in the city of Xigaze in Tibet, and tremors were also felt in Nepal, forcing people to run out of their houses.
According to regional disaster relief headquarters, the quake jolted Dingri County in Xigaze in Tibet Autonomous Region in China at 9:05 am Tuesday (Beijing Time). At least people have been confirmed dead, and 62 others injured as of Tuesday noon, state-run Xinhua reported.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Earthquake Centre of India put the magnitude to 7.1, saying the epicenter was located at China’s Xizang of Tingri county, located 90 km North-East of Lobutse in the Khumbu Himalayan range of North-East Nepal.
However, China recorded a magnitude of 6.8. The quake struck at a depth of 10 km, according to a report issued by the China Earthquake Networks Centre.
Meanwhile, in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, the strong earthquake and its aftershocks forced many panicked people to rush out of their houses. The temblors were felt in Kavrepalanchwok, Sindhupalanchok Dhading, and Solukhumbu districts as well. Trees and electric cables fell on the streets.
At least half a dozen tremors with magnitude ranging from 4 to 5 on the Richter Scale were also recorded within an hour around 7 am, according to the USGS report.
The strong tremor reminded the Nepalese of the 2015 great earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people. However, the officials received no information about any casualties or major damage on Tuesday.
