95 killed, 130 injured after earthquake of magnitude 7.1 hits Tibet

A powerful earthquake struck near a sacred city in Tibet on Tuesday, killing at least 95 people, according to Chinese state media.

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.1 (or 6.8 according to Chinese measurements), hit just after 9 a.m. local time (8 p.m. ET Monday). The U.S. Geological Survey said it was centered about 6 miles underground.

The quake happened in Dingri County, located in Shigatse, a mountainous area in western China near the Nepal border. Shigatse is about 240 miles from Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, and is known for being the seat of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.

At least 130 people were injured, and many homes in the area were destroyed. Some residents are trapped in the rubble. According to Chinese state TV, around 6,900 people live in more than 20 villages near the epicenter.

Rescue teams, including 1,500 firefighters and emergency workers, have been sent to the area, but the full extent of the damage is still being evaluated.

The quake was also felt in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, 250 miles away. People there were woken up, but no damage has been reported.

The Himalayan region is prone to earthquakes because it lies on a fault line between two tectonic plates—the Eurasian and Indian plates. In the past 100 years, there have been 10 major earthquakes within 150 miles of this latest epicenter.

Some past disasters in the region include a 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China, that killed nearly 70,000 people and a 7.8-magnitude quake in Nepal in 2015 that killed about 9,000 people and destroyed almost a million buildings.

Thirty-two people have been confirmed dead and 38 injured during the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that jolted Dingri County in the city of Xigaze in Xizang Autonomous Region on Tuesday. #quake pic.twitter.com/YMDO6cBuAK

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 7, 2025

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake rocked the northern foothills of the Himalayas near one of Tibet's holiest cities, killing at least 53 people and shaking buildings in neighboring Nepal, Bhutan and India https://t.co/adrOC4fXx8 pic.twitter.com/DuNbWlbO82

— Reuters (@Reuters) January 7, 2025

 

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