Earthquake Aftershocks Shake Tibet, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China

Residents across several parts of Asia felt the ground shake on Friday morning, as seismic activity continued in the wake of a major earthquake in Tibet. The National Center for Seismology (NCS) reported tremors in Tibet, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China.

The disruption follows a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Tibet on Thursday night at 8:03 pm. The powerful quake, which originated 173 kilometres below the surface, killed 16 people and left around 32 injured. Its epicentre lay about 400 kilometres from Lhasa.

In Tibet, the damage has been severe. Over 300 houses collapsed, and the assessment of losses is ongoing. Rescue and relief work is underway to reach people in affected areas.

Tremors continued in Tibet on Friday morning. A magnitude 4.4 quake was recorded at 5:54 am, at a depth of about 15 kilometres, according to the NCS. Earlier that morning, a magnitude 4.9 tremor hit Pakistan at 4:56 am, with its epicentre at 28.919 degrees north and 64.678 degrees east and a depth of 15 kilometres.

Afghanistan logged a magnitude 4.1 tremor at 5:54 am, centred at 35.138 degrees north and 69.442 degrees east, with a depth of 25 kilometres. Later, at 6:05 am, China experienced a magnitude 4.4 tremor, with its epicentre at 32.542 degrees north and 93.835 degrees east, at a depth of 15 kilometres.

Specialists say that rising temperatures, rapidly melting glaciers and growing extreme weather events could further raise the risk of natural disasters in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region.