A terrible earthquake in India’s neighboring Tibet took the lives of more or less 100 people. Its center was in Tingri village situated at an altitude of thousands of feet, which is considered the northern gateway to the Everest region. This village is at a distance of 80 kilometers from Mount Everest, where the epicenter of the earthquake was 10 kilometers deep. The center is also a scale of devastation, where less depth causes more devastation. This is the reason why the earth trembled 50 times in a span of 3 hours, causing huge destruction.
Tibet is the highest altitude region in the world, which is at an altitude of 13000-16000 feet above the surface. Being a hilly area, there is a possibility of earthquake causing major devastation. The earthquake recorded at 9.15 am on Tuesday was of 7.1 magnitude. After this, 50 aftershocks were recorded for 3 hours, many of which were recorded at intensity 4.4. This caused such devastation that hundreds of houses were destroyed in Tingri and surrounding villages.
1000 houses destroyed in an area with a population of 7000
It is being told that there are 27 villages within a radius of 20 kilometers from the epicenter of the earthquake, where there is a population of more or less 7000. According to Chinese media reports, 1000 houses have been destroyed in this area. The rescue team is also running rescue operations in the surrounding villages, so that people potentially trapped under the debris can be saved. Collapsed buildings, debris, destroyed roads and cars can be seen in the videos surfaced on social media.
Earthquake occurred 21 times in Lhasa block in 75 years
According to Chinese media reports, the earthquake in Tingri, Tibet was caused by a crack in the area known as the Lhasa Block, which is caused by north-south pressure and west-east pressure. For example, since 1950 till now, 21 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more have been recorded in this Lhasa block. After the earthquake, the routes to Mount Everest have been closed, where the risk of avalanche increases due to strong tremors.
China is building a dam in the earthquake prone area
The largest earthquake in the Lhasa block occurred in 2017 with a magnitude of 6.9 in the Menling area of Tibet, where China is currently building the world’s largest dam for electricity generation. Menling is in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River (Brahmaputra River) in Tibet, where China’s hydropower dam project is underway, where flash floods and devastation are expected in the future.
President Jinping’s instructions to the rescue team
Chinese President Xi Jinping said that all necessary steps should be taken to reduce the number of casualties, properly resettle the affected people and make safe and winter arrangements. China’s news agency reported that more than 1,500 local firefighters and rescue workers have been sent to the affected areas. It said that about 22,000 items including tents, coats, quilts and folding beds have also been sent to the earthquake-affected area.
What are aftershocks?
Aftershocks can be felt after the main earthquake. Usually, when earthquakes occur and the earth shakes, and the area is hilly, then energy is generated between the stones under the ground, due to which they break and more energy is released, causing tremors of more or less intensity. Aftershocks continue to occur some time after the earthquake or for the next few days.
