At least 18 people were killed and 46 others injured after a powerful magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck China’s remote Tibet region on Thursday night. The quake also caused hundreds of houses to collapse or sustain damage, triggering large-scale rescue operations.
The earthquake struck at 10:33 pm local time (1433 GMT). According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicentre was located in a mountainous area about 190 kilometres east-northeast of Nagqu and 390 kilometres northeast of the regional capital, Lhasa, at a depth of around 10 kilometres.
China Central Television (CCTV), citing local officials, reported that 11 of the injured were in serious condition. Initial inspections found that 339 houses had collapsed or been damaged. More than 300 police officers were deployed to assist with rescue and relief operations as authorities continued assessing the extent of the destruction.
Videos circulating online showed people rushing out of restaurants and objects falling from supermarket shelves as the earthquake struck.
The latest disaster comes less than two years after a devastating earthquake struck Tibet’s rural Tingri county in January 2025, killing at least 126 people.
The region is also recovering from deadly flash floods that struck the Nepal-Tibet border area in August, killing more than 1,400 people. The floods originated near the border and swept away homes and buildings across northern and central Nepal.
Meanwhile, another magnitude-5.2 earthquake struck China at 8:29 pm IST. According to India’s National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the epicentre was located around 505 kilometres north-northwest of Pangin in Arunachal Pradesh, at a depth of 15 kilometres.