Dozens are dead and injured after a strong earthquake struck a remote region in China’s Tibet on Tuesday morning.
The US Geological Survey said the 7.1-magnitude temblor struck at a depth of
about six miles shortly after 9 a.m. local time in Tibet’s Dingri County, a mountainous region located near along the border with Nepal. The China Earthquake Networks Center, which measured the initial earthquake as a magnitude 6.8, recorded several aftershocks, with the most recent occurring at 2:08 p.m.
China’s state-run media outlet Xinhua reported that 53 people were confirmed dead and 62 others were injured. Buildings have reportedly collapsed.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in a statement, called for every effort to be spent on search-and-rescue missions to minimise casualties. He also ordered for earthquake monitoring and early warning systems to be strengthened.
Dingri County is home to Tibet’s second-largest city of Shigatse, with a population of nearly 800 000 people. It is also traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest-ranking spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism.
According to the USGS, the region has a history of strong earthquakes, with ten temblors of magnitude six or greater striking within 155 miles of Tuesday’s strike in the past century.
A series of earthquakes that hit the region in 2015 killed nearly 8 670 people while causing widespread damage, it said. (UPI)
