A strong earthquake struck the foothills of the Himalayas near one of Tibet’s holiest cities on Tuesday, killing at least 126 people and flattening hundreds of houses, Chinese authorities said.
The magnitude 6.8 quake’s epicentre was about 80 kilometres north of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain. Tremors also shook buildings in neighbouring Nepal, Bhutan and India.
The impact was felt across the Shigatse region of Tibet, home to 800,000 people. The region is administered from Shigatse city, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism.
Many homes in Shigatse city were reduced to rubble, video released by Tibet Fire and Rescue showed. Rescue workers searched through the debris of a ruined home and pulled out one injured person, it showed.
Adding to the misery for those left homeless, temperatures in the region had fallen to minus six degrees Celsius later today and were forecast to drop as low as minus 16°C overnight.
The China Earthquake Networks Centre located the epicentre at Tingri county, known as the northern gateway to the Everest region, at a depth of 10km. The US Geological Service put the quake’s magnitude at 7.1. It struck at 9:05am (0105 GMT).
