The Foreign Office said Pakistan is extending its support to the Chinese people and government in their relief efforts BEIJING: A 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit the northern foothills of the Himalayas near one of Tibet’s holiest cities on Tuesday, Chinese authorities said, killing at least 126 people and shaking buildings in neighboring Nepal, Bhutan and India. The quake struck at 9:05 a.m. (01:05 GMT) with its epicenter in Tingri, a rural area known as the northern gateway to the Everest region, at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), according to China Earthquake Networks. Center. The USGS estimated the magnitude of the earthquake at 7.1. At least 126 people were known to have been killed and 130 wounded on the Tibetan side, Chinese state television reported six hours later. No deaths were reported elsewhere. The southwestern parts of China, Nepal, and northern India are frequently hit by earthquakes caused by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. Tuesday’s epicenter was about 80 km (50 miles) north of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain and a popular destination for climbers and hikers. Winter is not a popular season for mountaineers and tourists in Nepal, the German mountaineer is a lone mountaineer with a permit to climb Mount Everest. Lilathar Awasthi, an official of the Department of Tourism, had already left the base camp after failing to reach the summit. Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said tremors were felt in seven mountainous areas bordering Tibet. “So far we have not received any information about loss of life and property,” NDRRMA spokesman Dizan Bhattarai told Reuters. “We have mobilized the police, security forces and local authorities to gather information,” he said. Sparsely populated, many villages in Nepal’s border region are remote and accessible only on foot. The impact of the earthquake was felt in the Shigatse region of Tibet, home to 800,000 people. The region is administered by the city of Shigatse, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism. Chinese President Xi Jinping said an all-out search and rescue effort should be made to minimize loss of life, properly resettle affected people and ensure a safe and warm winter. More than 1,500 local firefighters and rescue workers have been dispatched to the affected areas, China’s Xinhua News Agency reported. About 22,000 items including cotton tents, cotton coats, blankets and folding beds were also sent to the quake-hit area. Pakistan has expressed its sincere condolences over the tragic loss of life in the earthquake. In a statement, the foreign ministry said Pakistan is providing support to the Chinese people and government in their relief efforts. “Our thoughts remain with the injured and those still missing,” it added. President Asif Ali Zardari expressed grief over the loss of life and financial losses due to the earthquake and said he sympathized with the Chinese government, people and victims of the earthquake. “I stand in solidarity with my Chinese brothers and sisters in this moment of grief,” the president said. Shocks, shocks Villages in Tingri, where the average elevation is around 4,000 to 5,000 meters (13,000 to 16,000 ft), reported strong shaking during the quake, which was followed by dozens of aftershocks of magnitude up to 4.4. Crumbling shop fronts were seen in a video on social media showing the aftermath in the town of Lhatse, with debris strewn across roads. Reuters was able to confirm the location based on surrounding buildings, windows, road layouts and signage that matched satellite and street imagery. Three towns and 27 villages with a total population of about 6,900 are located within 20 km (12 miles) of the epicenter, and more than 1,000 houses were damaged, Xinhua news agency said. Local government officials were in contact with nearby towns to gauge the impact of the quake and check the death toll, and China closed the Everest region to tourists after the quake, it added. The Tingri earthquake was caused by a rupture in what is known as the Lhasa block in an area under north-south and west-east pressure, CCTV said, citing Chinese experts. Since 1950, there have been 21 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater in the Lhasa block, the largest of which was the 6.9 earthquake in Mainling in 2017, according to CCTV. Mainling is located in the lower reaches of Tibet’s Yarlung Zangbo River, where China plans to build the world’s largest hydroelectric power plant. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck near Nepal’s capital Kathmandu in 2015, killing about 9,000 and injuring thousands in the country’s worst earthquake to date. The dead included at least 18 people killed at the Mount Everest base camp when an avalanche hit it. On Tuesday, tremors were felt in Kathmandu, about 400 km (250 miles) from the epicenter, and residents of the city ran out of their homes. “The bed was shaking and I thought my child was moving the bed… I didn’t pay much attention, but the shaking (of) the window helped me understand that it was an earthquake,” said Kathmandu resident Meera Adhikarii. . “I’m still shaking with fear and in shock. One person was injured in Kathmandu when he jumped from the roof of a house after feeling strong tremors, Nepalese police spokesman Bishwa Adhikari said. The man was treated in hospital. The earthquake also hit Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, and the northern Indian state of Bihar, which borders Nepal. No damage or loss of property has been reported so far, Indian and Bhutanese officials said.
