Magnitude-7 Quake Levels 339 Homes in Northern Tibet

Northern Tibet sits on a seismically active fault line where major tremors occur with regularity. On Thursday night, a magnitude-7 earthquake struck the region, killing at least 16 people and injuring 54, according to Chinese official media.

The US Geological Survey recorded the main shock at 10.33 pm local time. The epicenter lay 119 miles east-north-east of the regional city of Nagqu, at a depth of 11 miles. The agency logged at least seven aftershocks ranging from magnitude 4.3 to 5.2, each occurring at a depth of 6 miles. CCTV, China's national broadcaster, identified this event as the largest quake to hit the area in the past five years.

Rescue crews are currently operating in a sparsely populated, high-altitude zone. Local authorities reported that at least 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds collapsed in and around Nagqu. More than 1,600 personnel from the local county were deployed to the site. Xinhua reported that over 300 police officers joined the relief effort, while regional fire and rescue services dispatched nearly 350 personnel. Supply convoys delivered 1,000 prefabricated housing units, approximately 3,000 tents, folding beds, torches, and winter clothing to the affected areas.

Infrastructure damage has hampered response efforts. Communications systems failed in parts of the impacted zone. Local railway authorities halted train traffic passing through the region as a precaution. Rockslides closed a section of National Highway 317, restricting access to emergency and official support vehicles until crews cleared the debris. Meteorological forecasts indicate intermittent snow for the next three days, complicating operations for teams working at altitude.

Chinese President Xi Jinping directed an all-out effort for rescue and medical relief. The city of Nagqu is located more than 185 miles north of Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The region has experienced several major seismic events in recent years. In January 2025, a quake in rural Tingri county killed at least 126 people. In December 2023, a tremor in Gansu province claimed at least 134 lives, making it the deadliest in China since 2014. In August 2026, a major flood struck the Tibet-Nepal border, with limited international media access to the Tibetan side.

Videos from the scene show the immediate impact of the tremor. Workers fled restaurants and goods fell from supermarket shelves as the ground shook. Rescuers were filmed climbing through structures with collapsed roofs. The area remains under active search and rescue operations as of Friday.