Magnitude-7 Earthquake Hits Tibet, Killing at Least 16 and Destroying Homes

A magnitude-7 earthquake has struck Tibet, killing at least 16 people, injuring 54, and collapsing hundreds of homes in the northern regional city of Nagqu, according to official media reports and The Guardian.

Search and rescue efforts continued following the collapse of at least 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds, the Nagqu media office stated, citing city government officials. More than 1,600 people from the local county were deployed to assist with rescue operations. Essential supplies, including 1,000 prefabricated housing units, approximately 3,000 tents, folding beds, torches, and winter clothing, quickly arrived in the affected region.

Details of the Magnitude-7 Earthquake

The US Geological Survey reported that the tremor occurred at 10:33 p.m. local time on Thursday. Its epicentre was located 191 kilometers (119 miles) east-north-east of Nagqu in a sparsely populated, high-altitude area of northern Tibet, at a depth of 18 kilometers. The US agency also recorded at least seven aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 4.3 to 5.2, all at a depth of 10 kilometers.

Footage broadcasted by China’s national broadcaster, CCTV, captured workers fleeing restaurants and household items falling from supermarket shelves as the disaster struck. China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that communication lines were temporarily down in some impacted areas, prompting local railway authorities to take emergency measures and halt passing trains.

Emergency Response and Challenges

Authorities deployed over 300 police officers for relief work, while the regional fire and rescue corps mobilized nearly 350 personnel to the affected zones. Television footage displayed rescue workers clambering through severely damaged structures with collapsed roofs.

The tremor triggered rockfalls that forced officials to close a section of national highway 317, restricting access strictly to emergency, rescue, and official support vehicles while crews cleared the debris. Adding to the difficulty of the relief operations, state media noted that intermittent snow was expected in the quake-stricken region over the following three days. CCTV noted that this was the largest earthquake recorded in the region over the past five years.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an all-out effort in conducting search and rescue operations, as well as providing medical relief to those affected. Earthquakes remain relatively common in China due to the region’s high seismic activity. Tibet itself is a particularly seismically active area, having experienced previous disasters, including a rural quake in Tingri county in January 2025 and a massive tremor in Sichuan province in 2008.

Source: Magnitude-7 earthquake hits Tibet, killing at least 16 and destroying hundreds of homes (source-feed timestamp 2026-10-23T07:53:58+00:00). AI-assisted report based on the cited linked article and its RSS feed; details were not independently verified.