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126 killed, over 180 injured as earthquake hits Tibet, many buildings collapse
The earthquake occurred at 9.05 a.m. (0105 GMT), with its epicenter located in Tingri, a rural county that serves as the northern gateway to the Everest region.
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the northern foothills of the Himalayas near one of Tibet's Xigaze city on Tuesday. The quake resulted in at least 126 fatalities and injured over 180 people causing buildings to shake across neighbouring countries, including Nepal, Bhutan, and India.
According to regional disaster relief headquarters, the quake jolted Dingri County in Xigaze in Tibet Autonomous Region in China at 9:05 am Tuesday (Beijing Time). The quake had a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), as reported by the China Earthquake Networks Centre, Reuters reported.
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National television broadcaster CCTV reported that at least 95 people were killed on the Tibetan side.
Tremors were felt in Delhi-NCR and several North Indian areas, including parts of Bihar as well.
Here are the top updates on earthquake:
- A 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Nepal sent tremors through Delhi-NCR and various parts of North India.
- According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at 6.35 am, 93 km northeast of Lobuche, near the Nepal-Tibet border.
- The epicentre was located where the India and Eurasia plates clash and cause uplifts in the Himalayan mountains strong enough to change the heights of some of the world’s tallest peaks.
- The quake struck Dingri County with a magnitude of 6.8 near the border with Nepal at 9:05 am (0105 GMT), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).
- China said that at least 126 people in Tibet were killed in the quake, while 188 others were injured on the Chinese side of the border.
- According to AP, CCTV said there were a handful of communities within 5 kilometres (3 miles) of the epicentre, which was 380 kilometres (240 miles) from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.
- At least half a dozen tremors with magnitude ranging from 4 to 5 were also recorded within a time span of an hour around 7 am, according to the USGS report.
- Today's earthquake was the most powerful one recorded within a 200-kilometre radius in the last five years.
- In 2015, nearly 9,000 people died and more than 22,000 were injured when a 7.8-magnitude quake struck Nepal, destroying more than half a million homes.
- Nepal lies on a major geological faultline where the Indian tectonic plate pushes up into the Eurasian plate.
With Reuters inputs
