7.0-magnitude earthquake hits tibet, killing 16 and collapsing hundreds of homes

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck China’s Tibet region on the evening of October 22, killing at least 16 people, injuring 46 others and collapsing hundreds of homes in the northern city of Nagqu, according to Chinese state media.

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

Of the 46 injured, 11 were in serious condition, while 35 sustained minor injuries, officials said. More than 1,600 people from the local county were deployed for rescue operations.

Relief supplies, including 1,000 prefabricated housing units, around 3,000 tents, folding beds, flashlights and winter clothing, were sent to the affected region.

China’s state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday that communication services had been disrupted in parts of the region. Local railway authorities also halted trains passing through the affected area as a precaution.

The earthquake triggered rockfalls, prompting authorities to close a section of National Highway 317. Only emergency, rescue and official support vehicles were allowed through while crews worked to clear debris.

Intermittent snowfall is expected in the affected region over the next three days, Xinhua reported, raising concerns for rescue operations and people displaced by the disaster.

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

According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake occurred at 10:33 pm local time, with its epicentre 191 kilometres east-northeast of Nagqu, in a sparsely populated, high-altitude area of northern Tibet. The quake originated at a depth of 18 kilometres.

Nagqu is located more than 300 kilometres north of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.