Strong earthquake kills at least 95 people in Tibet, shakes Nepal
Global News
A strong earthquake shook a high-altitude region of western China and areas of Nepal on Tuesday, killing at least 95 people in Tibet.
A strong earthquake shook a high-altitude region of western China and areas of Nepal on Tuesday, damaging hundreds of houses, littering streets with rubble and killing at least 95 people in Tibet. Many others were trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the remote region.
Rescue workers climbed mounds of broken bricks, some using ladders in heavily damaged villages, as they searched for survivors. Videos posted by China’s Ministry of Emergency Management showed two people being carried out on stretchers by workers treading over the uneven debris from collapsed homes.
At least 130 people have been injured in the earthquake-hit area in Tibet on the Chinese side of the border, state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing the vice mayor of Shigatse city.
More than 1,000 homes were damaged in the barren and relatively sparsely populated region, CCTV said. In video posted by the broadcaster, fallen building debris littered streets and crushed cars.
People in northeastern Nepal strongly felt the earthquake, but there were no initial reports of injuries or damage, according to the country’s National Emergency Operation Center. The area around Mount Everest, about 75 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the epicenter, was empty in the depth of winter when even some residents move south to escape the cold.
The morning quake woke up residents in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu — about 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the epicenter — and sent them running out of their homes into the streets.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake measured magnitude 7.1 and was relatively shallow at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6 miles). China’s Earthquake Networks Center recorded the magnitude as 6.8. Shallow earthquakes often cause more damage.
The epicenter was in Tibet’s Tingri county, in a seismically active area where the India and Eurasia plates clash and can cause earthquakes strong enough to change the heights of some of the world’s tallest peaks in the Himalayan mountains.
Israeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, officials said Wednesday, as the nearly 15-month conflict ground on into the new year.
Revellers across Germany traditionally ring in the new year setting off fireworks, but the latest celebrations were marred by the use of fireworks against emergency officials.
Ukraine on Wednesday halted Russian gas supplies to European customers through its pipeline network after a prewar transit deal expired at the end of last year.
Auckland became the first major city to celebrate, as thousands thronged downtown or climbed the city’s ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point.