Magnitude 7 quake kills 16 in remote Tibet region
The tremor struck 119 miles from Nagqu at night, destroying over 300 homes and triggering a massive winter relief effort.
By Ricardo Brooks ·
A magnitude 7 earthquake struck northern Tibet on Thursday night, killing at least 16 people and injuring 54. The US Geological Survey recorded the tremor at 10:33 pm local time. Its epicenter lay 119 miles east-northeast of the regional city of Nagqu, at a depth of 11 miles. The agency noted at least seven aftershocks ranging from magnitude 4.3 to 5.2.
Local officials stated that 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds collapsed in and around Nagqu. CCTV described the event as the strongest earthquake in the area in five years. Footage showed residents fleeing restaurants and goods falling from supermarket shelves as the ground shook. Rescuers were seen climbing through structures with collapsed roofs.
Relief operations involved more than 1,600 personnel from the local county. Xinhua reported that over 300 police officers and nearly 350 fire and rescue workers were deployed to the site. Emergency supplies arrived in the region, including 1,000 prefabricated housing units, 3,000 tents, folding beds, torches, and winter clothing.
Infrastructure damage complicated the response. Communications failed in some affected zones, prompting railway authorities to halt train services through the region. Rockfalls closed a section of National Highway 317 to all but emergency and official vehicles. Intermittent snow was forecast for the following three days, adding to the challenges faced by ground crews.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an all-out effort in rescue and medical relief. Nagqu is located more than 185 miles north of Lhasa. The region experiences frequent seismic activity due to its geographic position. In January 2025, a quake in Tingri county killed at least 126 people. A December 2023 tremor in Gansu province killed at least 134, marking the deadliest quake in China since 2014.
Tibet has been under Chinese control since the 1950s. The region is one of the country's poorest and is predominantly ethnic Tibetan. Tensions with Beijing persist regarding cultural and religious controls. In August, a major flood struck the border with Nepal. Tight information controls limited international media access to the Tibetan side of that disaster, obscuring the full scale of the damage.
Source: The Guardian
