Northern Tibet Quake Leaves 16 Dead, 54 Injured

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck northern Tibet on Thursday night, killing at least 16 people and injuring 54. The Nagqu media office reported that 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds collapsed, with search and rescue efforts still ongoing. This quake is the largest in the region in the past five years.

The US Geological Survey recorded the tremor at 10.33pm local time, with its epicentre located 119 miles east-north-east of Nagqu. The quake occurred at a depth of 11 miles, followed by seven aftershocks ranging from 4.3 to 5.2 in magnitude, all at a depth of 6 miles. Videos captured the moment the ground shook, showing workers fleeing restaurants and goods tumbling from supermarket shelves.

More than 1,600 local county workers were deployed for rescue efforts, with over 300 police officers and nearly 350 fire and rescue personnel assisting. Supplies included 1,000 prefabricated housing units, 3,000 tents, folding beds, torches, and winter clothing. Communications are down in some affected areas, with local railway authorities halting trains and a national highway section closed due to rockfalls.

Chinese president Xi Jinping has called for an all-out effort in rescue and medical relief. The quake struck a region already seismically active, with Tibet under Chinese control since the 1950s. Its predominantly ethnic Tibetan population has had a tense relationship with Beijing since, and the region remains one of China's poorest. In August, a disastrous flood hit the border of Tibet and Nepal, but international media was kept from the affected areas on the Tibetan side, obscuring the full extent of the damage.