NAGQU, China / AsiaWire.IO / – At least 16 people were killed and more than 300 homes collapsed after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Tibet on Thursday night, according to Xinhua News Agency. Citing the emergency management office in Nagqu, Xinhua said dozens of people were also injured. The quake struck at 10:33 p.m. local time on October 22 in Baqên County, near Tibet’s border with Qinghai Province. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed.
Both the China Earthquake Networks Center and the United States Geological Survey reported a magnitude of 7.0. According to the USGS, the epicentre was about 191 kilometres east-northeast of Nagqu city, at a depth of 18 kilometres. Chinese authorities measured the depth at 10 kilometres. State broadcaster CCTV described it as the region’s strongest earthquake in five years.
Local officials said at least 339 homes collapsed and 20 livestock sheds were damaged in Baqên County. Early reports listed 32 injured, including 11 in serious condition, while later state media updates put the number higher. Rockfalls cut off part of National Highway 317. Building collapses, ground cracks and damaged walls were reported in Maru Township.
More than 12,400 people evacuated
More than 12,400 residents were evacuated as authorities launched a large-scale response. The Ministry of Emergency Management sent a disaster response group and raised the emergency response to Level III. Over 1,600 local county personnel joined rescue operations, supported by more than 300 troops and armed police with 20 vehicles. Military drones conducted reconnaissance flights over the affected area.
Aid deliveries included about 1,000 prefabricated housing units, roughly 3,000 tents and folding beds, flashlights and winter clothing. Police and fire rescue teams set up tents to house people displaced by the quake. The epicentre lies in a sparsely populated area of northern Tibet, at an average elevation of around 4,800 metres. Searches continued overnight.
Normal faulting behind Qiangtang Block quake
Seismologists linked the quake to normal faulting, reflecting east-west extension of the Tibetan Plateau. It occurred in the Qiangtang Block, where five other earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or more have struck since 1900, the largest a magnitude 7.5 event in November 1997. Earthquakes are common across western China, including recent tremors in Sichuan.
Tibet suffered a deadly magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Dingri County in January 2025 that killed 126 people. In South Asia, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit Pakistan’s Balochistan province earlier in October. Officials in Nagqu are continuing damage assessments and relief work for affected residents. Casualty figures may change as rescue operations progress.