Death Toll Rises to 95 in China’s Southwest Earthquake, Over 130 Injured
China’s state-run CCTV reported a surge in the death toll to 95, with a further 130 people injured, after a powerful earthquake struck the country’s southwestern region.
Earlier, the state news agency Xinhua reported 53 fatalities and 62 injuries.
The 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck at 9:05 am local time (2:05 am CET) in Tingri, a county in the Tibet Autonomous Region, near the border with Nepal. The epicenter was approximately 163 kilometers from the city of Xigazê, with a population of around 800,000, and the depth of the earthquake was about 10 kilometers, according to the US Geological Survey.
The affected area includes three settlements and 27 villages, with a population of around 6,900, according to Xinhua.
Local authorities have temporarily closed the Everest National Park, which the Tingri county lies on, to tourists, and rescue teams are currently conducting a search and rescue operation. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for all-out efforts to minimize the death toll.
The China Earthquake Network Center warned that the current event is part of the Himalayan seismic zone and that aftershocks are expected to follow. The organization noted that the recent earthquake in Tibet is the strongest of 29 earthquakes with a magnitude over 3 in the past five years.