OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
2:03 PM – Tuesday, January 7, 2025
At least 126 people were killed on Tuesday by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake near one of Tibet's holiest cities, according to Chinese state media.
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U.S. Geological Survey report The quake, detected just after 9 a.m. (8 p.m. ET Monday), had an epicenter at a depth of nearly six miles.
The quake occurred in Dingli County, Shigatse Province, a hilly region in western China that borders Nepal, and had an initial magnitude of 6.8 as measured by Chinese authorities. It was later fixed in 7.1.
The Panchen Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's second most important spiritual leader after the Dalai Lama, lives in Shigatse, about 390 miles from Tibet's capital, Lhasa.
China's state news agency Xinhua News Agencyreported at least 126 people killed and 130 injured. Many houses near the epicenter collapsed and some people were trapped.
china national tv surveillance camera It also announced that there were more than 20 villages with a population of about 6,900 people within 12 miles of the epicenter.
According to local residents, one of the reasons for the high death toll was shoddy construction work on homes near the epicenter.
The situation is “very serious,” said Sanji Danji, 34, a local resident whose supermarket in neighboring Tingri province was badly damaged.
“The houses here are made of earth, so when the earthquake hit…many houses collapsed,” Danzi pointed out.
Video from Latse Prefecture, Shigatse Province. The location was confirmed by NBC Newsshowed torn signboards near the epicenter, and in some cases buildings with walls and roofs completely collapsed.
Other footage showed fallen trees and debris strewn along the roadside, with several cars shaking violently as they hit the debris. Concrete blocks that were once a sidewalk were scattered around.
Shigatse Deputy Mayor Liu Huazhong said at a press conference that Chinese authorities have sent more than 3,400 military and fire brigade personnel to the area, along with 3,400 medical workers.
150 vehicles with search and rescue equipment were dispatched and power outages were recorded in many places, Liu continued.
“Disaster relief supplies such as heated rice, mineral water, instant noodles, winter coats, winter shoes, blankets, beds, and tents have been urgently allocated from each town,” Liu said.
Residents of Nepal's capital Kathmandu, 400 miles away, were also woken up by the vibrations.
The Himalayan region is located along the fault line between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates and is subject to earthquakes rather frequently. There have been 10 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater within 250 miles of Tuesday's epicenter in the past 100 years, according to the USGS.
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