A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7 struck the Tibet region of China on Thursday evening, resulting in the loss of at least 16 lives and causing injuries to 46 individuals. The impact of the earthquake led to the collapse of hundreds of homes in the city of Nagqu in the northern part of the region, as reported by official media sources.
Efforts for search and rescue operations are ongoing after 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds were destroyed, according to the Nagqu media office, which quoted city government officials. Among the injured, 11 are in critical condition while 35 sustained minor injuries, as per the media office’s update.
Over 1,600 individuals from the local county have been mobilized to assist in the rescue operations. Relief supplies, including 1,000 prefabricated housing units, approximately 3,000 tents, folding beds, flashlights, and winter clothing, have been dispatched to the affected area.
Communication disruptions have been reported in parts of the region, according to China’s official news agency Xinhua. As a result, local railway authorities have taken immediate measures to stop train services passing through the affected area.
Due to rockfalls triggered by the earthquake, local authorities have closed a segment of National Highway 317, permitting only emergency, rescue, and official support vehicles to pass through for debris clearance, as stated by Xinhua.
Xinhua has forecast intermittent snowfall in the earthquake-affected region over the next three days. This recent earthquake is noted as the most significant in the area in the past five years, as indicated by China’s national broadcaster, CCTV.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the earthquake struck at 10:33 p.m. local time, with its epicenter located 191 kilometers east-northeast of Nagqu in a thinly populated, high-altitude zone of northern Tibet. The earthquake’s depth was estimated to be at 18 kilometers.
Nagqu is situated over 300 kilometers north of Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet.
