By KEN MORITSUGU, Related Press
BEIJING (AP) — A powerful earthquake shook a high-altitude area of western China and areas of Nepal on Tuesday, damaging lots of of homes, littering streets with rubble and killing a minimum of 95 folks in Tibet. Many others had been trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the distant area.
Rescue employees climbed mounds of damaged bricks, some utilizing ladders in closely broken villages, as they looked for survivors. Movies posted by China’s Ministry of Emergency Administration confirmed two folks being carried on stretchers by employees treading over the particles from collapsed properties.
No less than 130 folks had been injured in Tibet on the Chinese language facet of the border, state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing the vice mayor of Shigatse metropolis.
Greater than 1,000 properties had been broken within the barren and sparsely populated area, CCTV mentioned. In video posted by the broadcaster, constructing particles littered streets and crushed automobiles.
Folks in northeastern Nepal strongly felt the earthquake, however there have been no preliminary reviews of accidents or harm, in line with the nation’s Nationwide Emergency Operation Middle. The realm round Mount Everest, about 50 miles southwest of the epicenter, was empty within the depth of winter when even some residents transfer away to flee the chilly.
The quake awakened residents in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu — about 140 miles from the epicenter — and despatched them operating into the streets.
The U.S. Geological Survey mentioned the earthquake measured magnitude 7.1 and was comparatively shallow at a depth of about 6 miles. China’s Earthquake Networks Middle recorded the magnitude as 6.8. Shallow earthquakes usually trigger extra harm.
The epicenter was in Tibet’s Tingri county, the place the India and Eurasia plates grind towards one another and may trigger earthquakes robust sufficient to vary the heights of a number of the world’s tallest peaks within the Himalayan mountains.
Tibet is a part of China, however many Tibetans’ loyalties lie with the Dalai Lama, the religious chief who has lived in exile in India since a failed anti-Chinese language rebellion in 1959. Western governments and human rights organizations have repeatedly accused the Chinese language authorities of abuses in Tibet, the place it has cracked down on dissent whereas investing closely in financial improvement.
There have been 10 earthquakes of a minimum of magnitude 6 within the space the place Tuesday’s quake hit over the previous century, the USGS mentioned.
About 50 aftershocks had been recorded within the three hours after the earthquake, and the Mount Everest scenic space on the Chinese language facet was closed.
Chinese language chief Xi Jinping referred to as for all-out efforts to rescue folks, decrease casualties and resettle these whose properties had been broken. Greater than 3,000 rescuers had been deployed, CCTV mentioned.
Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing was dispatched to the realm to information the work, and the federal government introduced the allocation of $13.6 million for catastrophe reduction.
About 6,900 folks stay in three townships and 27 villages inside 12.5 miles of the epicenter on the Chinese language facet, state media mentioned. The typical altitude within the space is about 13,800 toes, the Chinese language earthquake heart mentioned in a social media submit.
On the southwest fringe of Kathmandu, a video confirmed water spilling out into the road from a pond in a courtyard with a small temple.
“It is a big earthquake,” a girl could be heard saying. “People are all shaking.”
Related Press author Binaj Gurubacharya in Kathmandu, Nepal, and researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.
Initially Revealed: January 7, 2025 at 9:12 AM EST
