A powerful late-night earthquake in Tibet has left at least 16 people dead, injured dozens and reduced hundreds of homes to rubble, prompting Chinese authorities to order what state media described as an “all-out” rescue operation.
Video aired by state outlets showed rescuers moving through the darkness with torches, climbing over debris and searching inside some of the more than 300 houses that Xinhua said collapsed in the 7.0-magnitude quake last night.
As the shaking hit, diners bolted from restaurants and products tumbled from swaying supermarket shelves, according to clips broadcast by CCTV, which reported 65 people were injured.
One resident, speaking to local media, said her family had only just gone to bed when the house began to rock, sending objects crashing down, and that they “rushed outside without even taking the time to get dressed.”
“My legs were shaking the entire time I was heading downstairs and by the time I reached the bottom, I was so terrified that I burst into tears,” she said.
She added that neighbours “are afraid to return to their homes,” choosing instead to pitch tents by the roadside or spend the night in their cars.
A man told the Beijing News the “very strong” quake made his home start “creaking and rattling”.
“I was asleep when it hit. Everyone has run outside now and is too afraid to go back in. I’m currently driving to an open area to sleep in my car,” he said.
CCTV also broadcast images of helmeted emergency workers carrying a person to safety and sweeping flashlights across damaged buildings, including structures with roofs that had caved in.
Tibet is largely inaccessible to foreign journalists and Chinese authorities are the only source of official information.
Firefighters searching through damaged buildings (CCTV via Reuters)
President Xi Jinping said the quake resulted in “significant casualties” and struck a “high-altitude location” amid cold conditions.
“(We) must go all-out to carry out search and rescue operations and do our utmost to treat the injured, so as to minimise casualties,” Xinhua quoted Mr Xi as saying.
Mr Xi also urged officials to quickly deliver support for residents and send rescue equipment to the affected area.
The US Geological Survey said the epicentre was in mountainous terrain about 190 kilometres (120 miles) east-northeast of Nagqu and 390 kilometres northeast of the regional capital Lhasa.
The quake hit at 10:33 pm (1433 GMT) yesterday and was measured at a shallow depth of about 10 kilometres.
Lhawang Dagpo, a local official in the Maru township at the epicentre, said the tremor left cracks running through the walls of his office, according to Xinhua.
Xinhua reported that electricity and telecommunications were disrupted in the county seat.
CCTV said Baqing County mobilised more than 1,600 people for the relief effort.
According to CCTV, the municipal fire and rescue brigade sent 25 vehicles and 110 personnel, while the Nagqu Armed Police Detachment deployed 225 officers and soldiers along with 18 vehicles.
The broadcaster added that relief deliveries included 1,000 prefabricated houses, 3,239 tents, four generators and 1,000 flashlights.
CCTV showed damaged buildings in Baqen County
Earthquakes are relatively common in the region.
In January 2025, at least 126 people were killed in an earthquake in Tibet’s rural Tingri county.
The latest disaster comes just over a year after a quake in remote Gansu province in northwest China killed at least 148 people in December 2023, according to state media.
That tremor was China’s deadliest since 2014, when more than 600 people died in the southwestern province of Yunnan.
A massive earthquake in Sichuan province in 2008 left about 90,000 people dead or missing, including around 5,000 schoolchildren.
