At least 16 people have died and dozens were injured after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck China's Tibet region on Thursday night, the state news agency Xinhua reported, in the first confirmed death toll from the quake in Baqen County, Nagqu. At least 339 houses have collapsed and the extent of the damage is still being assessed, Xinhua said, according to CNN's reporting of the state-media updates.
Source: CNN (reporting Xinhua)
A later local report put the toll higher: the event's reference summary, updated within the last hour, records 18 fatalities and 32 injured, including 11 seriously, in Baqen County, citing a NetEase report of 18 dead alongside Xinhua's figure of 16. The toll is still being assessed and may change as village checks are completed, so Awaaz Punjab reports both attributed figures rather than treating either as final.
The quake struck at 10:33 p.m. local time (14:33 GMT) with its epicentre in Baqen County in Nagqu, northern Tibet, at a depth of 10 km, the China Earthquake Networks Center said; the United States Geological Survey (USGS) also measured magnitude 7.0, placing the epicentre 183 km east-northeast of Nagqu. Awaaz Punjab's first report, published when no casualties had been confirmed, is linked at the end of this story.
The China Earthquake Administration has activated a level II emergency response, its second-highest tier, Chinese broadcaster CGTN said, and a rescue team has been dispatched to the epicentre, CNN reported. Railway authorities have suspended train services through the affected areas, state media CCTV said.
In Maru township, at the epicentre, the township office sustained cracks in its walls and houses were reported collapsed, Xinhua said, in an AFP report of the state-media updates; power and telecoms services were disrupted in the county seat, and workers were sent to coordinate the response and check nearby villages.
Source: AFP via Insider Paper / WFB News (reporting Xinhua)
Earlier, Reuters reported, citing a state broadcaster, that authorities in villages near the epicentre had found at least two injured people and houses with visible cracks, and local media released videos showing people leaving their homes as the quake struck. The average elevation within 5 km of the epicentre exceeds 4,800 metres, the China Earthquake Networks Center said — a remote, thinly populated plateau where rescue and assessment are slow.
What is solid
- A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Baqen County, Nagqu, at 10:33 p.m. local time on Thursday, measured by both the USGS and China's CENC.
- Xinhua reported at least 16 dead, dozens injured and at least 339 houses collapsed (via CNN); a level II emergency response was activated (CGTN via CNN) and trains through the area were suspended (CCTV via CNN).
What is only claimed
- The exact death toll is still moving: Xinhua's reported figure is at least 16, while a later NetEase report cited on the event's reference page puts it at 18 dead and 32 injured. Both figures are attributed above; neither is treated as final while assessments continue.
This is a developing update to Awaaz Punjab's first report on the quake, published when the damage was still unclear. Read the first report: Magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes Tibet's Nagqu