At least 95 killed and dozens injured after 7.1-magnitude earthquake hits China

7 January 2025, 05:55 | Updated: 7 January 2025, 09:03

More than 50 have died in an earthquake in China
More than 50 have died in an earthquake in China. Picture: Alamy/Getty

By Emma Soteriou

At least 95 people have been killed and dozens injured after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit China.

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The quake struck in a mountainous area in the Tibet region, near the border with Nepal, the US Geological Survey said.

They recorded a 7.1 magnitude quake while China's monitoring agency recorded the magnitude as 6.8.

The average altitude in the area around the epicentre is about 13,800 feet, CCTV said.

In Nepal, the earthquake sent residents running out of their homes in the capital, Kathmandu.

Streets were filled with people woken up by the tremor.

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Damaged houses after the earthquake
Damaged houses after the earthquake. Picture: Alamy

Around 1,500 fire and rescue workers were sent to the scene to search for people in the rubble, according to China's Ministry of Emergency Management.

There are understood to have been a handful of communities within three miles of the epicentre, which was 240 miles from Tibet's capital, Lhasa.

Anoj Raj Ghimire, chief district officer of Solukhumbu district in Nepal, said: "We felt a very strong earthquake. So far we have not received any report of injuries or physical loss."

It comes after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake previously killed around 9,000 people and damaged about 1 million structures in Nepal in 2015.