Earthquake Monitoring Station

Chinese set up equipment at Everest

Scientists are set to learn more about Everest and the surrounding geography after hi-tech equipment was placed at the world’s highest peak.

The earthquake monitoring station at the foot of Mount Everest started operating last week and is located at about 14,000 feet at Tibet’s, Tingri County. 

Chinese scientist’s hope to achieve a real-time collection of data about seismic events along the China-Nepal border.  They will then send the data to research centres elsewhere.

This area is so important to scientists due to its location along volatile plates. The station sits where the Eurasian plate meets the Indian plate. The collision of these two plates over the years actually caused the formation of the gigantic Himalayas.

In recent years, these plates have caused severe earthquakes in the region.  The Tibetan plateau is frequently hit by minor earthquakes. A 7.9 magnitude quake hit the Himalayan foothills in Sichuan province in May 2008, leaving nearly 90,000 people dead or missing.

Another quake with a magnitude of 6.6 hit the region four months later and killed at least 30 people.