Tue Jan 07 02:14:28 UTC 2025: ## Deadly Earthquake Strikes Near Shigatse, Tibet; Tremors Felt Across Nepal and India
**Kathmandu/Beijing, Jan 7, 2025** – A powerful earthquake measuring between 6.8 and 7.1 magnitude struck near Shigatse, Tibet, on Tuesday morning, killing at least 36 people and causing widespread damage. The quake, which hit at 9:05 am local time (01:05 GMT) at a depth of 10km, sent tremors as far as northern India and Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, where buildings shook and residents fled their homes.
Initial reports from China’s Xinhua news agency indicated nine fatalities in Tingri county, near Shigatse, where numerous buildings collapsed. However, this number quickly rose to 36 according to the Nanfang Daily. Videos from Lhatse, approximately 150km east of Shigatse, showed crumbled shop fronts and debris strewn across the streets.
The earthquake’s intensity was felt strongly in Nepal, with reports of strong shaking in Kathmandu and the Himalayan region near Mount Everest. While no casualties have been reported in Nepal thus far, authorities are assessing the damage and deploying police and security forces to gather information. A government official in Nepal’s Namche region near Everest reported strong shaking but no immediate damage.
The US Geological Survey reported the earthquake as magnitude 7.1, while the China Earthquake Networks Centre recorded it at 6.8. Multiple aftershocks, the largest measuring 4.4 magnitude, have followed. Shigatse, a city of significant religious importance in Tibet, is home to the Panchen Lama, a prominent figure in Tibetan Buddhism.
The region is seismically active, with CCTV reporting 29 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher within a 200km radius of the epicentre in the past five years. The quake serves as a stark reminder of the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China (nearly 70,000 deaths) and the 2015 Nepal earthquake (approximately 9,000 deaths). Rescue and assessment efforts are underway in the affected areas.
First Piper 