A magnitude 7 earthquake has struck China’s southwestern region of Tibet, killing 16 people and injuring 32 others, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday, citing Nagqu City’s emergency management bureau.
The earthquake occurred at about 10:33 p.m. local time on Thursday, with 11 of the injured in serious condition and 21 sustaining minor injuries as of 2:25 a.m. on Friday, according to Xinhua.
The quake struck a sparsely populated, high-altitude county in Nagqu, northern Tibet, at a depth of 10 kilometres, data from the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC) showed.
The average elevation within five kilometres of the epicentre is about 4,864 metres above sea level, while the location is approximately 400 kilometres from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.
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Local authorities found at least two injured people in a village near the epicentre, while some houses in nearby villages developed cracks, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Videos released by local state media showed residents leaving their homes and seeking shelter outdoors or in parked vehicles following the tremor.
One resident said the strong earthquake woke them up, adding that the house could be heard creaking during the tremor.
The CENC said the earthquake was strongly felt in the surrounding area.
Local fire and rescue teams have been mobilised and are heading to the affected region, state media reported.
Several smaller tremors, measuring between magnitudes 3 and 4, were also recorded in surrounding areas following the main earthquake, according to CENC data.
The earthquake is the strongest to hit China since January 2024.
In 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Yushu in neighbouring Qinghai Province, killing at least 2,698 people and leaving nearly 300 others missing.
