BEIJING: A devastating earthquake in China’s remote Tibet region killed at least 126 people and damaged thousands of buildings on Tuesday, state media reported, with tremors also felt in neighbouring Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and parts of India.

Videos published by China’s state broadcaster CCTV showed houses destroyed with walls torn apart.

Rescue workers waded through rubble strewn across the ruins in the aftermath, footage showed, while some gave locals thick blankets to keep warm in subzero temperatures.

The quake struck rural, high-altitude Tingri county, about 80 kilometres north of Mount Everest near China’s border with Nepal, at around 9:00am (0100 GMT) on Tuesday.

Tremors also felt in Nepal and parts of India

“Here the houses are made from dirt so when the earthquake came... lots of houses collapsed,” said 34-year-old Sangji Dangzhi, whose supermarket in Tingri suffered considerable damage.

At least 126 people have been confirmed dead and 188 others injured as of 7pm, the CCTV said.

Twenty-eight people in critical condition were transferred to hospital for treatment and 3,609 houses had collapsed, it added.

The China Earthquake Networks Centre measured the quake’s magnitude as 6.8, while the US Geological Survey reported it as 7.1.

When tourist Meng Lingkang arrived in the town of Lhatse, 65 kilometres from the epicentre, “the buildings had cracked open”. “Some of the older houses collapsed, and a large part of the buildings made from bricks had cracked open, with big fissures,” the 23-year-old said.

All-out rescue efforts

The area most affected is surrounded by mountainous terrain on the Chinese side of Mount Everest.

Tingri, the epicentre, is home to around 62,000 people, and is much less developed than urban centres like Tibet’s capital Lhasa.

The CCTV, citing the emergency command centre, reported that the earthquake emergency response status in the region was raised to the highest level.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for “all-out search and rescue efforts, minimising casualties to the greatest extent possible, properly resettling affected residents, and ensuring their safety and warmth through the winter”, the state broadcaster said.

Authorities said more than 3,400 rescuers and over 340 medical workers had been deployed in the affected area.

Aid including cotton tents, quilts and cold-weather equipment had been dispatched by central authorities, state news agency Xinhua said.

Tingri is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shigatse, home to the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, one of the most important spiritual figures in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama said he was “deeply saddened”.

“I offer my prayers for those who have lost their lives and extend my wishes for a swift recovery to all who have been injured,” the exiled spiritual leader said in a statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his “sincerest condolences”, saying Russia “shares the grief of those who have lost relatives and close ones”.

President Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep sorrow and grief over the tragic loss of lives and damage to property in China’s earthquake.

We stand in solidarity with our Chinese brothers and sisters, sharing their sorrow in this difficult time.”

‘Shook quite strongly’

As well as Kathmandu, areas around Lobuche — in the high mountains near Everest in Nepal — were also rattled by the tremor and aftershocks.

“It shook quite strongly here, everyone is awake,” said government official Jagat Prasad Bhusal in Namche region, which lies closer to Everest.

Some tremors were felt in Bihar state in India but no injuries were reported.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2025