After a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Dingri County, Tibet, aftershocks have been ongoing. As of noon on January 8th, a total of 646 aftershocks have been detected. Tibetan officials reported in the afternoon on the same day, indicating that earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 5 to 6 cannot be ruled out.
At 9:05 am on January 7th, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Dingri County in Shigatse, Tibet. As of 7 pm on the same day, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials reported 126 deaths and 188 injuries, and there have been no further updates on the casualty figures.
On January 8th, Tibetan officials held a press conference in the afternoon to report that as of noon that day, a total of 646 aftershocks have been detected at the epicenter of Dingri County, with the largest aftershock measuring 4.4 magnitude. Currently, 46,500 affected residents have been relocated.
According to the report, as a result of this earthquake, parts of Dingri County and Lazi County experienced power outages. National and provincial highways as well as some rural road sections have varying degrees of damage. Tsochen Township and Qulong Township in Dingri County suffered severe communication disruptions.
During the press conference, Deputy Director Meng Hui of the Tibet Seismological Bureau stated that statistics since 1950 show that within a 200-kilometer radius of Dingri County, there have been 7 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above, all of which were mainshock-aftershock type earthquakes. Analyzing the regional structure, historical seismic activities, earthquake sequence types, and other characteristics of neighboring earthquake-prone areas, it is believed that there may be earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 5 to 6 in the near future.
The year 2025 has started with frequent earthquakes on the mainland, with a total of 4 earthquakes occurring so far.
On January 2nd, Yinchuan City in Ningxia experienced two earthquakes with magnitudes above 4.
On January 6th, a 3.0 magnitude earthquake struck Cixian County in Handan City, Hebei Province.
On January 7th, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit near Cuoguo Township in Dingri County, Shigatse, Tibet.
On January 8th, a 5.5 magnitude earthquake occurred in Mado County, Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province.