At least 16 dead when powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Tibet

A magnitude-7 earthquake struck China's southwestern Tibet region on Thursday evening, claiming 16 lives and leaving 32 injured, according to state news agency Xinhua. The quake occurred around 10:33pm local time, with 11 of the injured reported in serious condition and 21 sustaining minor injuries. At least 339 homes collapsed, according to the Nagqu media office.

The epicenter of the quake was in a remote, high-altitude county in Nagqu, northern Tibet, at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers. The surrounding area, including within a 5km radius, stands at an average elevation of about 4,864 meters. Videos shared by local media showed residents evacuating their homes and seeking shelter outdoors or in parked cars.

One resident described being awakened by the quake and hearing their house creaking. The tremor was clearly felt in the local area, with the CENC confirming its impact. The epicenter was approximately 400km from Tibet's capital, Lhasa. Following the initial quake, smaller tremors of magnitudes 3 and 4 were recorded in nearby regions.

The 2025 earthquake is the strongest to hit China since January 2024. In January 2025, an earthquake in Tibet's rural Tingri county killed 126 people, while a magnitude-7.1 tremor in Yushu, Qinghai province in 2010 claimed at least 2,698 lives and left nearly 300 people missing.