Tibet hit by 5.3-magnitude earthquake (representative image)
An earthquake of magnitude 5 was reported in Tibet on last week’s Thursday, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). That quake occurred at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles), according to the data. Kang Shichang, director and researcher at the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said glaciers across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau had shrunk by about 24% in area over the past six decades.
The latest earthquake was deeper than the tremor reported five days earlier, based on the respective seismic data.
Chinese climate experts said rising temperatures, accelerated glacier melt and retreat, local geological and geomorphological conditions and broader climatic influences may have contributed to the disaster. Sun Xiaoguang, head of the Meteorological Observatory of the Tibet Autonomous Region, said: “According to our monitoring, we can see the short-time rain days, or the imbalance of the rain pattern and the rising of the temperature in Tibet. He also said the region may be affected by the climate change crisis and that extreme weather incidents in China could become more frequent.
The earthquake comes days after another tremor struck the region. The disaster has also raised concerns over the fragile environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Chinese researchers have linked the growing risks in the region to glacier retreat and climate change.