Tibet earthquake kills at least 16 people, injures dozens: state media

Hundreds of homes in the remote Himalayan region collapsed due to the quake, which is the strongest to hit the region in the past five years and the most powerful to strike China since January 2024. At least 339 residential buildings and 20 livestock sheds were destroyed, according to local government officials.

Of the dozens injured, 11 were in serious condition, the local media office reported. Disaster relief efforts are ongoing as officials assess the scale of the damage, with power and communication lines to the area also disrupted.

Epicenter details

The earthquake's epicenter was located around 190 kilometers northeast of Nagqu, a city approximately 300 kilometers north of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, according to the US Geological Survey. The mountainous area is sparsely populated.

The quake struck at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers. Shallow earthquakes (up to 70 kilometers deep) are considered more dangerous and destructive.

Recent seismic activity

Earthquakes are relatively common in China. In January 2025, a quake near Mount Everest in Tibet's Tingri region killed at least 126 people. In 2010, a magnitude 7.1 quake hit neighboring Qinghai province, killing at least 2,698 people.