Houses collapse

32 dead and 38 injured after earthquake in Tibet

Dozens of people have died in an earthquake in Tibet. Some media report 53 deaths.

(Bild: Xinhua via AP)

Dozens of people have been killed and many more injured in a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in the autonomous region of Tibet. At least 126 deaths were reported on Tuesday afternoon.

The 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the district of Tingri in the city of Shigatse early on Thursday morning. Tingri and the surrounding areas "were shaken by very strong tremors and many buildings near the epicenter collapsed", reported Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

Pictures and images on social media show destroyed houses with walls and rubble torn apart (see X posts below). 

Dozens of people have died in an earthquake in Tibet. Some media are reporting 53 deaths.

(Bild: Xinhua via AP)

According to the Chinese earthquake center CENC, the magnitude 6.8 quake struck in the Tingri district near the border with Nepal at 9.05 a.m. (local time, 02.05 CET) on Tuesday morning. The US earthquake observatory USGS and GeoSphere Austria gave the magnitude as 7.1. 

Rescue work underway
The tremors were clearly felt in the surrounding area. Several communities are affected and rescue work is underway. Residents are also being evacuated to avoid the possible effects of aftershocks. At least 188 people are said to have been injured.

According to CCTV, there have been 29 earthquakes with a magnitude of three or more within a 200-kilometer radius of the current quake in Shigatse in the past five years. However, all of them were weaker than Tuesday morning's quake.

Also felt in Nepal
The quake was also felt in Nepal, neighboring Bhutan and northern India. In Kathmandu, people took to the streets for fear of their houses collapsing. It was initially unclear whether anyone was injured.

"We have mobilized the police, security forces and local authorities to gather information," it said. Many villages in the sparsely populated Nepalese border region can only be reached on foot. The only mountaineer in Nepal with a permit to climb Everest at the time of the quake had already left the base camp after failing to reach the summit, said a representative of the Ministry of Tourism.

Austrians are not expected to be affected by the quake. There are 25 Austrians registered as travelers in Nepal.

Southwest China frequently affected by earthquakes
In 2008, a devastating quake in Sichuan province killed almost 70,000 people. In 2015, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake near Kathmandu in neighboring Nepal claimed around 9,000 lives and injured thousands. It was the worst earthquake in Nepal's history.