Magnitude 7 Earthquake Hits Tibet, Killing 16 and Collapsing Hundreds of Homes

A magnitude 7 earthquake struck China’s Tibet region on Thursday evening, killing at least 16 people, injuring 54 and destroying hundreds of homes in the northern city of Nagqu, according to official media.

Search and rescue operations continued after at least 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds collapsed, the Nagqu media office said, citing city government officials.

More than 1,600 people from the local county were deployed to assist rescue efforts. Emergency supplies, including 1,000 prefabricated housing units, around 3,000 tents, folding beds, flashlights and winter clothing, were sent to the affected area.

China’s state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday that communications had been disrupted in parts of the region. Local railway authorities also took emergency measures to halt trains travelling through the affected area.

The earthquake triggered rockfalls that forced authorities to close part of National Highway 317. Only emergency, rescue and official support vehicles were allowed through as crews worked to clear the debris, Xinhua reported.

Intermittent snowfall is expected in the earthquake-hit region over the next three days, adding to the challenges facing rescue teams, according to Xinhua.

China’s state broadcaster CCTV described the quake as the strongest to hit the region in five years.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake occurred at 10:33 p.m. local time, with its epicentre 191 kilometres (119 miles) east-northeast of Nagqu, in a sparsely populated, high-altitude area of northern Tibet. The agency measured the earthquake’s depth at 18 kilometres (11 miles).

Nagqu is located more than 300 kilometres (186 miles) north of Lhasa, Tibet’s capital.