Earthquake today: Powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.1 shakes Tibet, 95 dead, tremors felt in Nepal, India

Earthquake today: A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.1 hit Tibet early on January 7 (Tuesday), with tremors also felt across parts of northern India, as per multiple reports. As per a report by Reuters, at least 95 people in Tibet have been reported dead and 130 others injured due to the disaster, which collapsed multiple buildings.

While earlier reports said the quake originated in Nepal, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) a little later reported that the magnitude 7.1 earthquake was centred in Tibet at a depth of about 10 km. The average altitude in the impacted area is around 13,800 feet, per an AP report citing data from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

A few social media reports said the earthquake hit Tibet near the border with Nepal. The National Center for Seismology (NSC) posted on X that a 7.1-magnitude earthquake had hit near “Xizang” (Tibet).

Death toll at 95, 130 Injured, 1000 Houses Damaged

The death toll is at 95 as “many buildings” collapsed in Tibet's Dingri county amid the quake, according to an Reuters report citing Chinese state media.

As per the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC), the earthquake was recorded as 6.8 magnitude, while the USGC and NCS both reported the quake as magnitude 7.1.

“Dingri county and its surrounding areas experienced very strong tremors, and many buildings near the epicentre have collapsed. The reporter learned that nine people have been confirmed dead so far," the CCTV report said. As of 10 am, “multiple aftershocks” had been recorded, the largest measuring 4.4 magnitude.

Further, China's Xinhua news agency said that “local authorities are reaching out to various townships in the county to assess the impact of the quake.”

As many as 62,000 people live in the high-altitude county in Tibet, and while earthquakes are common in the region, today's was the most powerful recorded within a 200 km radius in the last five years, the CENC added.

Quake in Tibet, Kathmandu Also Hit

According to an AP report, China's earthquake monitoring agency recorded the magnitude of the quake as 6.8. The CCTV online report added that a “handful” of communities live within 5 km of the epicentre, which is 380 km away from Tibet's capital of Lhasa.

According to an AFP report, buildings in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, shook just before dawn. The report further said that a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck a remote Himalayan region in Tibet over 200 km away. It added that officials said they were checking for damage.

Areas around Lobuche in Nepal, in the high mountains near Mount Everest, were also rattled by the tremors and a series of aftershocks, the report added. “It shook quite strongly here, everyone is awake, but we don't know about any damages yet,” Jagat Prasad Bhusal, a government official in Nepal's Namche region, which lies nearer to Everest, told an AFP reporter.

Bihar, Patna, Kolkata Feel Tremors

The quake was so massive that tremors were felt as far as Bihar, according to social media reports. According to an ANI report, the earthquake tremors were felt early in the morning in Bihar's Sheohar.

The Bihar Disaster Management Department told PTI that tremors were felt in Patna, Madhubani, Sheohar, Munger, Samastipur, Muzaffarpur, Katihar, Darbhanga, West Champaran, East Champaran and several other districts along the India-Nepal border.

The tremors triggered panic among people in Patna with citizens rushing out of their residences as a precautionary measure. People in Katihar, Purnea, Sheohar, Darbhanga and Samastipur also came out on the streets when the quake took place.

Other reports on social media also said that residents in Patna and Kolkata felt the tremors as well. 

Nepal lies on a major geological fault line where the Indian tectonic plate pushes up into the Eurasian plate, forming the Himalayas, and earthquakes are a regular occurrence.

In 2015, nearly 9,000 people died and more than 22,000 were injured when a 7.8-magnitude quake struck Nepal, destroying more than half a million homes.

(With inputs from Agencies)