At least 36 people were killed in a major earthquake in Tibet on Tuesday. This was reported by the Reuters news agency based on local media. Many buildings have also collapsed near the epicenter. It is still unknown how many people were injured. Tibet is an autonomous region in southwestern China.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake was a magnitude 7.1 at a depth of approximately ten kilometers. Six more aftershocks followed within the hour. These had a magnitude of between 4.6 and 5.1 on the Richter scale.
The quake struck at 9:05 a.m. local time (2:05 a.m. Dutch time) near the Tibetan city of Shigatse. The epicenter is in the Tingri region, which borders Nepal. Many trips to Mount Everest are organized from that region. The quake was even felt in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, which is about four hundred kilometers southwest of Shigatse.
The region is more often affected by earthquakes. In 2008, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 occurred in the Chinese province of Sichuan. More than 80,000 people were killed.