In brief
A powerful 7.0‑magnitude earthquake struck the Nagqu region of Tibet on Thursday night, leaving 16 people dead and 65 injured, including 11 with serious wounds. Emergency teams responded amid electricity cuts, collapsed homes and blocked roads, while 400 aftershocks rattled the high‑altitude area. Chinese officials have pledged 50 million yuan for relief and mobilised military, police and drone resources to aid search and rescue. The quake follows a 2023 6.2‑magnitude shock that killed over 120 in Gansu, underscoring the region’s seismic vulnerability.
A 7.0‑magnitude earthquake tore through the Nagqu region of Tibet late Thursday night, killing at least 16 people and wounding 65 others, Xinhua reported.
The epicentre was near Baqên County, 400 km northeast of Lhasa, where rescue squads have been dispatched as the area has seen a cut in power and the collapse of 339 homes.
Rockfall has closed nearby roads, complicating access for emergency crews, while the USGS recorded 7 tremors close to the epicentre, the largest being a shallow 5.2 event at 10 km depth—shallow quakes often inflict more damage.
Survivors recount the terror: one woman, Yixi Cuomu, was asleep when the ground shuddered violently; she escaped barefoot to the street in sub‑zero night, describing the shaking as if “hundreds of yaks ran past.”
Officially, more than 400 aftershocks have been logged since the strike, prompting mountain‑region authorities to organise medical aid, relocation and resettlement, while Premier Li Qiang urged urgent relief efforts.
The federal government is allocating 50 million yuan ($7.5 m) for disaster relief on the plateau, where rescues are further challenged by the altitude (≈4,800 m) and limited infrastructure.
Tibet’s recent history has been marred by seismic and meteorological disasters—most notably a 6.2 quake in neighbouring Gansu in 2023 that killed over 120—and a glacier‑collapse flood that claimed 1,400 lives earlier this year.
With foreign media largely censored, Chinese state outlets remain the sole source of real‑time updates, underscoring the importance of independent data analysis for global audiences concerned with Southeast Asian seismic risk.
