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A strong one earthquake shook a high-altitude region of western China and parts of Nepal on Tuesday, damaging hundreds of homes, covering streets with debris and killing at least 95 people in Tibet. Many others were trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the remote region.
Rescuers climbed mounds of broken bricks, some using ladders, in heavily damaged villages as they searched for survivors. Videos posted by China’s Ministry of Emergency Management showed two people being carried out on stretchers by workers trampling over the uneven debris of collapsed houses.
At least 130 people have been injured in the earthquake-affected area in Tibet on the Chinese side of the border, state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing the vice mayor of Shigatse city.
More than 1,000 houses were damaged in the barren and relatively sparsely populated region, CCTV said. In a video posted by the broadcaster, fallen building debris streets and crushed cars.
People in northeastern Nepal felt the earthquake strongly, but there were no initial reports of injuries or damage, according to the country’s National Emergency Operation Center. The area around Mount Everest, about 75 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the epicenter, was empty in the depth of winter when even some residents moved south to escape the cold.
This morning’s earthquake woke residents in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu – about 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the epicenter – and sent them out of their homes and onto the streets.
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday.
Xinhua via AP
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake measured a magnitude of 7.1 and was relatively shallow at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6 miles). China’s Earthquake Networks Center recorded the magnitude as 6.8. Shallow earthquakes often cause more damage.
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The epicenter was in Tibet’s Tingri county, in a seismically active area where the India and Eurasia plates collide and can cause earthquakes strong enough to change the heights of some of the world’s highest peaks in the Himalaya mountains.
Tibet is part of China, but Tibetans’ loyalty may lie with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader who has lived in exile in India since a failed anti-Chinese uprising in 1959.
Western governments and human rights organizations have repeatedly accused the Chinese government of abuses in Tibet, where it has cracked down on dissent while investing heavily in economic development.
There have been 10 earthquakes of at least 6 in the area where Tuesday’s quake struck in the past century, the USGS said.
About 50 aftershocks were recorded in the three hours after the earthquake, and the scenic area of Mount Everest on the Chinese side was closed.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping. called for all efforts to save people, minimize casualties and resettle those whose homes were damaged. More than 3,000 rescuers were deployed, CCTV said.
Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing was sent to the area to supervise the work, and the government announced the allocation of 100 million yuan ($13.6 million) for disaster relief.
About 6,900 people live in three townships and 27 villages within 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of the epicenter on the Chinese side, state media said. The average elevation in the area is about 4,200 meters (13,800 feet), the China Earthquake Center said in a post on social media.
On the southwestern outskirts of Kathmandu, a video showed water pouring into the street from a pond in a courtyard with a small temple.
“It’s a big earthquake,” a woman can be heard saying. “The people are all trembling.”
Associated Press writer Binaj Gurubacharya in Kathmandu, Nepal, and researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.
& copy 2025 The Canadian Press
