Magnitude-7 Earthquake Hits Tibet's Nagqu Region, Killing at Least 16
Seven Lights
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake has hit a mountainous region in Tibet, killing at least 16 people and injuring dozens, according to Chinese state media, the BBC reported. The centre of the quake hit Baqên County in the Nagqu region on Thursday night, Xinhua reported, citing the local emergency management bureau, the BBC said. The county is about 400km (250 miles) north-east of the regional capital, Lhasa, the BBC added.
Authorities declared the incident an emergency and deployed rescue teams to the affected area, where 65 others were injured, including 11 people with severe injuries, according to the BBC, citing state media reports. The electricity supply was cut off and 339 homes collapsed in the affected region, though by Friday morning there were reports of power restored in some areas, the BBC said. Local media said more than 12,400 people had been relocated following the earthquake, and rockfall forced road closures that made it more difficult for crews to reach impacted high-altitude areas, the BBC reported.
The US Geological Survey said the quake occurred at 10.33pm local time on Thursday, with its epicentre 119 miles (191km) east-north-east of Nagqu, in a sparsely populated, high-altitude area of northern Tibet, The Guardian reported. The Guardian said the USGS put the earthquake’s depth at 11 miles and recorded at least seven aftershocks of magnitudes between 4.3 and 5.2, all with a depth of 6 miles.
Search and rescue efforts continued after at least 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds collapsed, the Nagqu media office said, citing city government officials, The Guardian reported. It was the biggest quake in the region in the past five years, according to China’s national broadcaster CCTV, the Guardian said. More than 1,600 people from the local county were deployed to help rescue efforts, and supplies sent into the region included 1,000 prefabricated housing units, about 3,000 tents, folding beds, torches and winter clothing, the Guardian reported. More than 300 police officers were dispatched for relief work while regional fire and rescue services sent almost 350 personnel to the affected areas, Xinhua told the Guardian.
China’s president, Xi Jinping, called for an all-out effort in the rescue operation and medical relief work, the Guardian reported. Xinhua said communication in some areas hit by the quake was down and that local railway authorities took emergency actions to stop trains passing through the region, while rockfalls forced the closure of a section of national highway 317, the Guardian said. Intermittent snow was expected in the region over the next three days, Xinhua added.
Survivors described the scene to local media. Nagqu resident Yixi Cuomu told Tibet Daily she was asleep when her house started shaking violently and headed outside barefoot, her “legs trembling uncontrollably” as she descended the staircase, while another eyewitness said the shaking was so violent “that in that moment I felt as if several hundred yaks were running past” him, the BBC reported. Euronews video coverage showed residents reacting in the aftermath of the 7.0-magnitude tremor.