A powerful earthquake struck Tibet, resulting in 95 fatalities and 130 injuries.

On the morning of January 7, a powerful earthquake struck the Tibetan Autonomous Region in China, resulting in the deaths of dozens of people. The epicenter of the tremors was recorded at a depth of nearly 10 km.

This was reported by NBC News.

The hardest-hit area was Dingri County in Shigatse, a mountainous region in western China bordering Nepal. Shigatse, located about 380 km from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, is the residence of the Panchen Lama, the second most important spiritual figure in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.

According to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua, at least 53 people have died, and 62 others were injured. Many buildings near the epicenter collapsed, leaving some people trapped under the rubble.

The Chinese authorities have dispatched about 1,500 rescuers to the area. The full extent of the disaster is still being assessed.

The Tibetan Seismological Bureau reported that they cannot provide an estimate of the casualty figures as they are still verifying the numbers. The region, located near a major fault line between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, experiences frequent seismic activity. In 2015, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 near Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, claimed nearly 9,000 lives, injuring over 20,000 others.

Jiang Haikun, a researcher from the China Earthquake Networks Center, indicated that there is a threat of aftershocks. The expert noted that an earthquake with a magnitude of around 5 could occur, though the likelihood of stronger tremors is low.

The Chinese Air Force has initiated a rescue operation and deployed drones to the affected area located at the foot of Mount Everest. Electricity and water supplies have been cut off in the region.

The President of China, Xi Jinping, has also called for comprehensive search and rescue efforts to minimize casualties and relocate affected residents.

Background. Earlier, Mind reported that in April 2024, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 occurred off the eastern coast of Taiwan. The tremors caused most equipment at the display manufacturers AU Optronics and Innolux to halt operations.