Nepal to Announce Mount Everest New Height Soon, Reports Say

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) – The authorities of Nepal will soon announce the results of new measurements of the height of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak, media reported on Thursday, citing the minister for land management of Nepal, Padma Kumari Aryal.

According to Business Standard, Aryal said at a cabinet meeting that using the country’s own resources, the Nepal’s side had completed the measurement of Mount Everest and was going to announce it very soon.

In accordance with the agreement with the Chinese side, Nepal and China will jointly announce the height of Mount Everest simultaneously in Kathmandu and Beijing.

Nepal and China have previously disagreed over the height of Mount Everest after China unilaterally announced that the height of world’s tallest peak was 8,844.04 meters (29,015 feet) in 2015 against globally accepted 8,848 meters (29,029 feet). Due to the differences on the height of Mount Everest, Nepal and China were also unable to sign the boundary protocol.

Mount Everest in Nepal

The agreement on a joint measurement of Mount Everest was reached during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal in 2019. The need for a new measurement arose after a number of scientists suggested that the height of the mountain could have been affected by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake, which occurred in Nepal on 25 April 2015.

The next day after the disaster, the country was hit by a series of aftershocks, and about two weeks later, Nepal suffered from a new earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3. About 9,000 people were killed and over 22,000 people were injured as a result of the two natural disasters.

Sourse: sputniknews.com