At least 53 people were killed as a series of six earthquakes, including a powerful 7.1 magnitude tremor, struck Tibet within the span of one hour on Tuesday morning. The tremors caused widespread shaking in several areas across India, Nepal, and Bhutan.
According to Reuters, citing local media, the earthquakes resulted in at least 53 fatalities in Tibet, while China’s Xinhua news agency reported 62 injuries. Several buildings near the epicenter collapsed. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV confirmed that Dingri county and its surrounding regions experienced intense shaking, with numerous buildings collapsing. The tremors were strongly felt in Delhi-NCR, as well as in various parts of North India, including Patna in Bihar and multiple areas in the northern part of the state. The impact was also felt across West Bengal and in the northeastern states, including Assam.
In Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, residents fled their homes after the strong tremors. Meera Adhikari, a Kathmandu resident, described her experience to news agency ANI, saying, “I was sleeping. The bed was shaking, and I thought my child was moving the bed. I didn’t pay that much attention, but the shaking of the window confirmed to me that it was an earthquake. I then hurriedly called my child and evacuated the house and went to the open ground.”
The first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.1, struck Xizang, near the Nepal-Tibet border, at 6:35 am, according to the National Centre for Seismology. This magnitude is considered strong and capable of causing significant damage. Chinese officials measured the tremor at 6.8 in Shigatse, Tibet’s second-largest city. Following the main quake, two aftershocks of 4.7 and 4.9 magnitude were recorded in the same Xizang region.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located at the convergence of the India and Eurasian tectonic plates, where the collision has caused the Himalayan mountain range to uplift, altering the heights of some of the world’s tallest peaks.
According to CCTV, in the past five years, there have been 29 earthquakes with magnitudes of 3 or higher within 200 km of Shigatse city, all of which were smaller than the one that struck on Tuesday morning.
