Strong earthquake hits China's Tibet, killing 16 people

• Magnitude 7 quake strikes northern Tibet at 10:33pm on Thursday evening.
• Rescue teams mobilised as deadly earthquake hits remote region of Tibet now.
• Powerful tremors leave cracks in several houses near the epicentre in Tibet.

A magnitude 7 earthquake struck China's Tibet region on Thursday night, killing at least 16 people and injuring 32 others, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing Nagqu City's emergency management bureau.

As of 2:25 am on Friday, 11 of the injured were in serious condition, while 21 sustained minor injuries, Xinhua reported.

Local authorities found at least two people injured in a village near the epicentre, with some houses in villages closest to the epicentre showing cracks, the state broadcaster said. The quake was the strongest to hit China since January 2024.

The epicentre was in a sparsely populated, high-altitude county in Nagqu, northern Tibet, at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). The average elevation within 5 km of the epicentre is about 4,864 metres (15,960 feet), data from the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC) showed.

Videos released by local state-run media showed people leaving their homes and seeking shelter outside or in cars parked on the street. One resident reported being awakened by the strong quake and hearing the house creaking during the tremor.

The quake was clearly felt in the local area, CENC said. The epicentre was around 400 km from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.

Local fire and rescue teams have been mobilised and are heading to the affected region, state media said.

A series of smaller tremors of around magnitude 3 and 4 were recorded in surrounding regions following the magnitude 7 earthquake, CENC data showed.

In 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Yushu in neighbouring Qinghai province, killing at least 2,698 people and leaving nearly 300 missing.