BEIJING, October 23 (Aalimi Nation) – A magnitude 7 earthquake struck northern Tibet late on Thursday, killing at least 16 people and injuring dozens more, according to Chinese authorities, who have launched a large rescue operation at high altitude.
The quake hit at about 10:33 pm local time on October 22. Its epicentre was in a sparsely populated, high-altitude county of Nagqu, roughly 390 to 400 km north-east of the regional capital Lhasa, according to the US Geological Survey and other reports. The average elevation within five km of the epicentre is about 4,864 metres.
The China Earthquake Networks Center put the focal depth at about 10 km, while the US Geological Survey's figure, converted from miles, was somewhat deeper. The two agencies' depth estimates differ.
Nagqu city's emergency management bureau said 16 people had died and 32 were injured. As of about 2:25 am on Friday, 11 of the injured were in serious condition and 21 had minor injuries. Another account, citing state media, gave a higher injury total of 54, but the breakdown provided covered only 46 of them; the discrepancy had not been explained.
Local officials said at least 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds had collapsed. Authorities said they were still assessing the full extent of the damage, so the figures could change as teams reach more remote settlements. Residents were seen spending the night outdoors or in parked cars, and smaller aftershocks of about magnitude 3 and 4 were recorded in surrounding areas.
Rescue and relief
The China Earthquake Administration activated a Level II emergency response. More than 1,600 people from the local county were deployed for search and rescue, and police and fire teams were setting up tents to shelter displaced residents. Officials said relief supplies sent to the region included about 1,000 prefabricated housing units, roughly 3,000 tents and folding beds, flashlights and winter clothing.
State television described the tremor as the biggest earthquake in the region in the last five years, and state media said it was the strongest to strike China since January 2024. The area is geologically active because it lies on the collision zone between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, which also drives the formation of the Himalayas.
In January 2025, an earthquake in Tingri county in Tibet killed at least 126 people. In 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Qinghai province's Yushu killed at least 2,698 people.
The final death toll, the number of people missing and the total number of damaged buildings have not been confirmed. Officials did not report any damage to major infrastructure such as roads, dams or power lines in the initial statements, and no foreign casualties were mentioned. Neighbouring Nepal and India were not mentioned in the official reports reviewed.
Rescue work was continuing on Friday.
