A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the Shigatse region of Tibet yesterday at 9:05 am local time, causing widespread damage and claiming at least 126 lives. The epicenter was located in the high-altitude Chinese county of Dingri, about 47 miles northeast of Mount Everest, at a depth of 6.2 miles. The tremors were felt across Nepal, India, and Bhutan.
More than 1,000 homes were damaged, and rescue teams have been deployed to search for survivors; however, efforts are being hampered by freezing conditions, with temperatures dropping as low as minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Shigatse is the second-largest city in Tibet and the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, the second-most significant figure after the Dalai Lama in Tibetan Buddhism. The region’s location along the Indian-Eurasian tectonic plate boundary makes it prone to seismic activity—a 2015 earthquake near Kathmandu, Nepal, resulted in nearly 9,000 deaths.