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Magnitude 5.0 Earthquake Strikes Tibet After Deadly Nepal Glacier Disaster
A moderate earthquake shook Tibet on Thursday.
Scientists measured it at magnitude 5.0 and said it happened 10 kilometres below the ground.
The earthquake was 128 kilometres northeast of Joshimath in India.
Officials had not yet said whether the earthquake hurt people or damaged buildings.
It happened days after a glacier and mountainside collapsed near the Nepal-Tibet border.
Rocks, ice and water then rushed into valleys and caused destructive floods.
Reports said 1,252 people had died and at least 4,216 were still missing.
Rescue workers were searching through mud and debris in difficult conditions.
The Himalayas are prone to earthquakes and other geological hazards.
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck Tibet on Thursday, according to India’s National Centre for Seismology.
The quake occurred 128 kilometres northeast of Joshimath in Uttarakhand at a depth of 10 kilometres.
Authorities had not immediately reported casualties or property damage from the earthquake.
The tremor followed a glacier-and-mountainside collapse that triggered devastating floods in Tibet and Nepal.
The disaster’s reported toll reached 1,252 deaths, with at least 4,216 people still missing.
- Who
- India’s National Centre for Seismology reported the earthquake; communities in Tibet and Nepal were affected by the wider disasters.
- What
- A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck Tibet after a glacier-and-mountainside collapse caused devastating floods.
- Where
- The quake was reported in Tibet, 128 kilometres northeast of Joshimath in Uttarakhand; the floods affected areas along the Nepal-Tibet border.
- When
- The earthquake occurred on Thursday, days after the glacier-related disaster that began on August 26.
- Why
- The earthquake reflects tectonic stress in the Himalayas, while later reporting said an earlier earthquake was caused by the collapse that triggered the floods.
Initial assessment
Later explanation
Cause of the earlier flood disaster
Initial assessment
The glacier disaster was initially believed to have been triggered by an earthquake.
Later explanation
Later reporting said the collapse of the glacier and the mountainside caused a rock-and-ice avalanche and flash flood, and that the earthquake itself resulted from the collapse.
Key facts
- Earthquake magnitude
- 5.0
- Earthquake depth
- 10 kilometres
- Reported location
- 128 kilometres northeast of Joshimath, Uttarakhand
- Reported disaster deaths
- 1,252
- People missing
- At least 4,216
- Collapsed mountain
- The northern face of 7,234-metre Langtang Lirung, along with the glacier atop it
- Estimated avalanche debris
- Up to 200 million cubic metres
Sources
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