An earthquake in Tibet kills more than 120 people, and strikes an area near the holy Buddhist city

By Joe Cash and Gopal Sharma – Reuters

Rescuers help injured people in Chakun village, Dingri County, Shigazi, Tibet, on January 7, 2024. Photo: AFP/Liu Yousheng

A powerful earthquake struck the Himalayan foothills near one of Tibet's holiest cities on Tuesday, killing at least 126 people and destroying hundreds of homes, Chinese authorities said.

The epicenter of the 6.8-magnitude earthquake was about 80 kilometers north of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. Tremors also shook buildings in neighboring Nepal, Bhutan and India.

The impact was felt throughout Tibet's Shigatze region, home to 800,000 people. The area is administered from the city of Shigatse, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism.

A video clip published by the Tibet Fire and Rescue Organization showed many houses in the city of Shigatse turned into rubble. Footage showed that rescue workers searched through the rubble of a destroyed house and recovered an injured person.

Damaged houses in Shigatse, Tibet. Photo: Agence France-Presse

The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said 20 Kiwis were registered as being in Nepal.

The ministry says it has not received any requests for assistance from New Zealanders in the affected areas. She said no New Zealanders were registered on the Safetravel website as being in Tibet or Bhutan.

Stuart Gray, former president of the New Zealand Alpine Club, said many New Zealand climbers had spent time in the Himalayas and would be concerned for the people they knew and the villages where they had spent time.

He said they are “hoping for the best in those areas.”

Because it was winter in the Himalayas, he said it was outside the climbing season and not many people would be able to climb Mount Everest at this time of year.

He added that there would be trekkers throughout the Himalayas, but it was not clear how much the earthquake would affect these people.

Extreme cold

What increased the suffering of the displaced due to the earthquake was that temperatures in the area dropped to 6 degrees below zero late on Tuesday, and are expected to drop to 16 degrees below zero overnight.

The China Earthquake Networks Center located the epicenter of the quake in Tengri County, known as the northern gateway to the Everest region, at a depth of 10 kilometers. The US Geological Service said the earthquake's magnitude reached 7.1. It occurred at 9.05 am (01.05 GMT).

China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported that at least 126 people were killed and 188 wounded on the Tibetan side. There were no reports of deaths elsewhere.

Footage broadcast by state broadcaster CCTV showed rescuers performing CPR on an injured person and soldiers setting up makeshift shelters.

Rescuers search for survivors in Changsu Town, Dengri County, Shigaze. Photo: AFP/Liu Yusheng

The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who fled to India with thousands of Tibetans in early 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, said he was deeply saddened.

“I offer my prayers for those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery to all those injured,” the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said in a message.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that comprehensive search and rescue efforts should be made to reduce human casualties and resettle those affected.

Beijing, which administers Tibet as an autonomous region within China, rejects criticism from human rights groups and exiles who accuse it of violating the religious and cultural rights of the Tibetan people.

Xinhua reported that China closed the Everest region to tourists after the earthquake.

Mount Everest is a popular destination for climbers and trekkers, but winter is not a prime season for climbers and trekkers in Nepal.

Lilatar Awasthi, an official at the Ministry of Tourism, said that a German climber was the only climber to obtain a permit to climb Mount Everest, but he had already left the base camp after failing to reach the summit.

Xinhua said that more than 1,500 firefighters and rescue workers were sent to the affected areas. She added that about 22,000 items were also sent, including tents, coats, quilts and folding beds.

Tremors and aftershocks

Villages in Tingri, where the average elevation is about 4,000-5,000 metres, reported strong tremors during the quake, which was followed by more than 150 aftershocks measuring 4.4 magnitude.

Crumbling storefronts can be seen in a video posted on social media showing the aftermath of the accident in the town of Lats, with debris strewn on the road.

Xinhua reported that three towns and 27 villages were located within 20 kilometers of the epicenter, with a total population of about 6,900 people, and more than 1,000 homes were damaged.

The southwestern parts of China, Nepal and northern India are often exposed to earthquakes caused by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

Since 1950, 21 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater have occurred in what is known as the Lhasa block, the largest of which was the 6.9 magnitude quake in Minling in 2017, according to China Central Television.

Minling is located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet, where China plans to build the world's largest hydroelectric dam.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck near the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, in 2015, killing about 9,000 people and injuring thousands in the country's worst earthquake ever. The dead included at least 18 people who died at Mount Everest base camp when it was hit by an avalanche.

The earthquake was felt on Tuesday in Kathmandu, about 400 kilometers from the epicenter, and residents in the city fled their homes.

“The bed was shaking and I thought my child was moving the bed,” said Meera Adhikari, a resident of Kathmandu. “I didn’t care much, but the shaking of the window made me understand that it was an earthquake.” “I'm still shaking with fear and in shock.”

Nepalese police spokesman Bishwa Adhikari said that a person was injured in Kathmandu when he jumped from the top of a house after feeling strong tremors.

The earthquake also shook Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, and the state of Bihar in northern India, bordering Nepal.

– Reuters, with additional details on New Zealanders in Nepal by RNZ

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