TIBET: A powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck China’s Tibet region on Thursday night, killing at least 16 people and injuring 32 others, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing Nagqu City’s emergency management bureau.
Strong 7.0-Magnitude Earthquake Hits China’s Tibet
According to Xinhua, as of 2:25 a.m. Friday, 11 injured people were in serious condition, while 21 others had sustained minor injuries.
Local authorities reported finding at least two injured people in a village near the epicentre. Several houses in villages closest to the quake’s epicentre also developed cracks, China’s state broadcaster reported.
The earthquake struck a sparsely populated, high-altitude county in Nagqu, northern Tibet, at a depth of approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), data from the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC) showed. The average elevation within five kilometres of the epicentre is around 4,864 metres (15,960 feet).
The epicentre was located approximately 400 kilometres from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The CENC said the tremors were clearly felt across the surrounding area.
Footage released by local state-run media showed residents rushing out of their homes and seeking shelter outdoors or inside vehicles parked along streets. One resident said the strong tremor woke them from sleep, adding that they could hear their house creaking as the earthquake struck.
Local fire and rescue teams have been mobilised and were heading towards the affected areas, state media reported.
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Several smaller aftershocks, measuring around magnitude 3 and 4, were also recorded in surrounding regions following the main earthquake, according to CENC data.
The earthquake was reported to be the strongest to hit China since January 2024.
The disaster has drawn comparisons with the devastating 2010 earthquake in Yushu, in neighbouring Qinghai province. That magnitude 7.1 earthquake killed at least 2,698 people and left nearly 300 others missing.
