Earthquake In Tibet Kills 16 And Drives More Than 12,000 From Their Homes
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake killed at least 16 people and injured 65 in Tibet, bringing down hundreds of houses in a remote stretch of high plateau and forcing more than 12,000 people out of their homes
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At least 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds collapsed, the Nagqu city media office said, with the full extent of the damage still being assessed. Rockfalls forced the closure of a section of National Highway 317 to all but emergency traffic. Power and telephone services failed in the county town.
More than 1,600 people were deployed on rescue work, along with over 300 police officers sent to the epicentre to check damaged buildings and move residents to safety. Relief supplies arriving by Friday morning included 1,000 prefabricated housing units, more than 3,200 tents, over 2,800 folding beds, and stoves, quilts and winter clothing. President Xi Jinping ordered an all-out search for the missing and treatment for the injured.
China’s earthquake monitoring centre recorded 413 aftershocks. Trains were halted through the affected section of the Qinghai-Tibet railway and resumed on Friday morning at reduced speed.
Intermittent snow is forecast over the area for the next three days, adding to the difficulties facing rescuers and those sleeping outdoors at altitude.
Reuters described the quake as the strongest in China since January 2024, and state broadcaster CCTV called it the largest in the region in five years. The Tibetan plateau lies where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide. A magnitude 7.1 quake at Yushu, in neighbouring Qinghai, killed more than 2,600 people in 2010.