A 5.5 earthquake hit Tibet this morning, shaking the lower slopes of Everest but causing no further problems.
The quake was located 10km deep under the town of Shigatse and hit the area at 5:11 am China time, according to the China Earthquake Administration. No casualties have been reported, ChannelNews Asia reports. Shigatse is near the border with Nepal and one day away from Everest Base Camp.
Climbers on the North Side of Everest felt the shaking, but no one was harmed.
“We sure felt the quake, but all is okay,” Adrian Ballinger of Alpenglow Expeditions told ExplorersWeb. Camps and ropes remain in place, and no avalanches were reported. The route on the North Side of Everest mainly follows the huge Northeast Ridge and so is safe from avalanches most of the time.
Wind halts progress
Climbers are more concerned about the wind, which is blowing hard on the upper slopes. A group of Chinese rope fixers assigned by the China-Tibet Mountaineering Association summited on Saturday as the winds increased, but other teams on the mountain have seen their progress delayed.
“Our Sherpas did not make it to 7,600m as planned,” Ballinger told ExplorersWeb. “They just reached up to the North Col at 7,000m, the same [altitude] as some of our clients today. Here at Advance Base Camp, at 6,400m, it is warm and still and sunny.”
On the busy South Side of Everest, in Nepal, the tremor was barely noticed and had no consequences.
