Beijing: A township and county in Tibet have moved 60 centimetres southward as a result of the devastating Nepal earthquake last month, a Chinese geologist said on Tuesday.
The township of Gyirong and Nyalam County, which border Nepal, have shifted about 60 centimeters, said Wang Qi, a professor with the China University of Geosciences who is leading a research team in Tibet, southwest China.
According to Wang, the massive quake on April 25 resulted in the movement of the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. "Gyirong and Nyalam are close to the epicenter, so their movements are obvious," he said.
The quake also resulted in the sinking of Nyalam by about 10 centimeters, he added.
Wang also said that, after analysis, they will offer a conclusion about whether the height of Mount Everest has changed since the quake.
Meanwhile, the earthquakes in Nepal have significantly damaged 242 temples in neighboring Tibet Autonomous Region, affecting the lives of 2,566 monks and nuns, the regional religious affairs bureau said today.
The quake-ravaged temples are all located in Xigaze in the southwest part of Tibet.
At Qoigar Temple, which belongs to the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism, Abbot Jamba Gonbo said that the quakes have damaged 20 Buddha statues in the temple. Three gold-plated figures were buried in rubble.
Gonbo said their dormitories were completely toppled and the temple hall was badly damaged. Local authorities have set up camps for monks.
The regional religious affairs bureau is still collecting information on damage to relics in the temples, while repairing salvaged items, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The 7.9-magnitude earthquake which struck Nepal on April 25 and ensuing aftershocks have left nearly 9,000 people dead and destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of houses in Nepal.
The quake also left 25 dead in Tibet, with four missing and 797 injured. The quake affected nearly 300,000 people, displacing more than 52,000, in the southwestern Chinese region, the report said.
