The China Earthquake Networks Center recorded a Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km beneath Tingri County in southern Tibet, close to Mount Everest and the border with Tibet at about 9.05 am local time on Tuesday 7 January 2025 (about 1.05 am, GMT). The Earthquake was felt across southern Tibet, eastern Nepal, western Bhutan, northeastern India and northern Bangladesh. More than 150 aftershocks have been recorded since the original event.
At the time of writing rescue workers have reported 126 deaths and 188 people injured in Tibet and another five injuries in Nepal. However, the number of casualties is likely to rise significantly, as the population in the area around the epicentre of the Earthquake largely live in small, remote villages, largely cut off from the outside world, and which are subsequently difficult for rescue workers to reach. To make matters worse, daytime temperatures in the area average -8°C at this time of year, falling to -18°C at night. More than a thousand homes have been damaged or destroyed in areas that rescue workers have managed to reach, so is likely that in other areas people may have lost their homes or be trapped beneath debris, vulnerable to the cold.
Earthquake activity in the area is caused by the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, due to the impact of India into Eurasia to the south. he Indian Plate is moving northwards at a rate of 5 cm per year, causing it to impact into Eurasia, which is also moving northward, but only at a rate of 2 cm per year. The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates has led to the formation of the Himalayan Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of southwest China, Central Asia and the Hindu Kush.
Much of Tibet and neighbouring areas of Central Asia and the Himalayas, are prone to Earthquakes caused by the impact of the Indian Plate into Eurasia from the south. When two tectonic plates collide in this way and one or both are oceanic then one will be subducted beneath the other (if one of the plates is continental then the other will be subducted), but if both plates are continental then subduction will not fully occur, but instead the plates will crumple, leading to folding and uplift (and quite a lot of Earthquakes). The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates has lead to the formation of the Himalayan Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of southwest China, Central Asia and the Hindu Kush.
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