Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, Jan. 7: A powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Dingri County in Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet, on Tuesday morning, leaving at least 95 people dead and 130 others injured as of 3 pm Tuesday, according to Chinese state media, Xinhua.
The quake, which hit at 9:05 a.m., caused widespread destruction in the region, with villages in Dingri reporting intense tremors. The epicentre was located in Dingri, near Mount Everest, but its impact was felt across neighbouring areas, including Ngamring, Lhatse, Dingkye, and Shigatse. Aftershocks as strong as 4.4 magnitudes continued to rattle the region, further complicating rescue and relief efforts.

Tremors were also felt beyond Tibet, in parts of Nepal, northern India—including Delhi-NCR, West Bengal, and Bihar—as well as Bhutan, Bangladesh, and China. However, no casualties have been reported outside Tibet.
According to reports, local authorities have launched extensive rescue operations, deploying emergency teams to search for survivors and provide medical assistance to the injured. Roads and infrastructure in Dingri have suffered severe damage, hindering relief efforts.
Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama expressed profound sadness over the tragedy in a statement from Bylakuppe, South India. He said, “I am deeply saddened to learn of the devastating earthquake that struck Dingri in Tibet and the surrounding regions this morning. It has caused the tragic loss of many lives, numerous injuries, and extensive destruction to homes and property. I offer my prayers for those who have lost their lives and extend my wishes for a swift recovery to all who have been injured.”

The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) President Penpa Tsering also conveyed his condolences in a post on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “The Central Tibetan Administration deeply mourns the devastating 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the Dingri region and surrounding areas in Tibet this morning. The CTA, along with Tibetans around the world, extends its heartfelt condolences and prayers to all those affected by this tragedy.”
The CTA announced a prayer service to be held on Wednesday at Tsuglagkhang, the main temple in Dharamshala, India, to mourn the victims and pray for their families.
2 Responses
Tibet was the most peaceful nation on earth! It had a benign Lama as it’s temporal and spiritual leader and the whole nation devoted their entire life in pursuit of spiritual liberation rather than material Eldorado. This nation never imagined any one would invade and take over it in its wildest of imagination! It lived as it did for centuries tucked away from the rest of world to avoid intrigues and machinations but the neighbours didn’t leave alone and plotted the demise of the Tibetan nation by bartering away Tibet’s sovereignty in order to fulfil their evil designs. The British imperialists envisioned a tactic which greatly undermined Tibet’s sovereignty in the Anglo-Russian convention of 1907 by awarding suzerainty to Chins in order to keep the Russians from getting foothold in Tibet. The Chinese used this imperialistic instrument imposed by imperial
Britain and Russia on Tibet as the basis of its spurious claim over Tibet! This is the root cause of Tibet’s present tragedy much like the tragedy of the Palestinians again imposed by British imperialism. Ever since communist China invaded and occupied Tibet, it has been plundering Tibet’s rich natural resources like there is no tomorrow! No sooner the Chinese communists occupied Tibet, all of Tibet’s natural resources were at their mercy! The Chinese communists plundered every conceivable resource without the slightest benefit to the Tibetan people or regard for the environmental degradation. Tibet is scared by the reckless mining activity of communist China and has caused irreparable environmental catastrophe and apocalyptic ecological degradation owing to the mindless exploitation and extraction of vast and rich natural resources of Tibet! The dams that has built on Tibet’s rivers have caused flooding, landslide and earthquakes in Tibet. When Tibet was independent, there was only one known earthquake in 1950 which Tibetans believed was a bad omen for the nation. However, ever since the Chinese occupation, countless earthquakes and landslides have occurred which are the result of disturbing the natural state of the earth. The dams are responsible for exacerbating earthquakes because the sheer weight of the water disturbs the formation of rocks beneath the accumulated water. When the water sips through the rocks, it disturbs the formation of the layers of rocks which results in earthquakes because it forces the tectonic plates to move! The insane plan to built the Yarlung Tsangpo mega dam is another madness by the mindless Chinese communists who are hellbent to wreak havoc to the world! This is the regime which is the incubator of the Chinese virus that has wiped 6.86 million souls to their deaths! The virus was a human invention which is believed to be a biological weapon that was leaked out of the Wuhan Institute of virology. The CCP is at its madness again! If they built the Yarlung Tsangpo mega dam, it will further exacerbate seismic activity which will cause even more frequent earthquakes and it will also alter the monsoon cycle of Tibet. The mammoth accumulated body of water will evaporate and will condense in the natural cycle of rain. Once, it gets to saturation point, it will rain and that can make the dam overflow. Besides, with global warming at an alarming rate, the melting of the ice and snow can cause havoc in the over flow of the dam. If the water is released, it will cause massive flooding in the down stream countries like India and Bangladesh. Since, the area is already seismologically active, massive earthquakes can cause the dam to crack or even fall apart which will be catastrophic with the prospect of losing thousands of lives like the 2008 Sichuan earthquake which killed 70,00 souls half of them Chinese school children! THE YARLUNG TSANGPO DAM MUST BE STOPPED FOR THE SECURITY AND LIVELIHOOD OF THE TIBETAN PEOPLE WHO ARE THE CUSTODIANS OF TIBET!
Mining activities for Lithion-ion batteries to power iPhone, mac books, escooters, ebikes, EVs. Goddess of the Tibetan plateau, which had been subdued in 7th Century by Emperor songsters gompo by installing eight temples to pin down her limbs and other mobile parts had been desecrated by Chinese communist from Beijing. Its skewed in favour of goddesses and gods rather than scientists and engineers. Therefore we say Mother Earth instead of Father Earth. Home which is planet earth is owned by women. Scorning women by mining and construction activities by building houses and dams on soil owned by spirits of underworld is obviously a controversial undertaking, as it means that humans are challenging God’s for the control of planet earth.