Tibet Quake Kills 16, Destroys 339 Homes
A magnitude-7 tremor struck near Nagqu on Thursday, triggering aftershocks and halting rail traffic as winter weather approaches.
By Khalid Rahman ·
At least 16 people died when a magnitude-7 earthquake struck northern Tibet on Thursday night. Chinese official media reported that 54 others were injured in the tremor, which occurred in and around the regional city of Nagqu.
The Nagqu media office, citing city government officials, stated that 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds collapsed. Search and rescue operations continued as of Friday. China's national broadcaster CCTV identified the event as the largest seismic event in the region over the preceding five years.
The US Geological Survey recorded the quake at 10.33 p.m. local time on Thursday. The epicenter lay 191 kilometers east-north-east of Nagqu in a sparsely populated, high-altitude zone. The tremor registered at a depth of 18 kilometers. The agency logged at least seven aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 4.3 to 5.2, each occurring at a depth of 10 kilometers.
Footage from CCTV showed workers evacating restaurants and goods falling from supermarket shelves as the ground shook. Rescuers were seen navigating through structures with collapsed roofs. Local authorities deployed more than 1,600 personnel from the county for rescue efforts. Xinhua reported that over 300 police officers and nearly 350 fire and rescue service members were also sent to the area.
Relief supplies included 1,000 prefabricated housing units, approximately 3,000 tents, folding beds, torches, and winter clothing. Xinhua reported on Friday that communications remained down in parts of the affected zone. Local railway authorities halted trains passing through the region as an emergency measure. Rockfalls closed a section of National Highway 317, restricting access to emergency and official support vehicles while crews cleared debris. Forecasters predicted intermittent snow for the next three days.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an all-out effort in rescue and medical relief. Nagqu is located more than 298 kilometers north of Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. Earthquakes occur regularly in China. In January 2025, a quake in rural Tingri county in Tibet killed at least 126 people. In December 2023, a tremor in Gansu province killed at least 134 people, making it the deadliest quake in the country since more than 600 died in Yunnan province in 2014.
Source: The Guardian
