An earthquake of magnitude 7 struck China’s southwestern region of Tibet at around 10:33 p.m. on Thursday, killing at least 16 people and injuring 32 others, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing Nagqu City’s emergency management bureau.
As of 2:25 a.m. on Friday, 11 of the injured were in serious condition while 21 sustained minor injuries, Xinhua reported.
Local authorities have found at least two people injured in a village near the epicenter, with some houses in villages closest to the epicenter showing cracks, the state broadcaster said. The quake is the strongest to hit China since January 2024.
The actual number of casualties from such events may be much higher as the Chinese regime routinely suppresses or alters information.
The epicenter was in a sparsely populated, high-altitude county in Nagqu, northern Tibet, at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). The average elevation within 5 kilometers of the epicenter is about 4,864 meters (15,960 feet), China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) data showed.
Videos released by local officially run media showed people leaving their homes and seeking shelter outside or in their cars parked on the street. One resident reported being awakened by the strong quake and heard the house squeaking in the tremor.
The quake was clearly felt in the local area, CENC said. The epicenter was around 400 kilometers from the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.
A string of smaller tremors of around magnitude 3 and 4 have been recorded in surrounding regions following the magnitude 7 quake, CENC data showed.
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