Tibet Earthquake Kills 16 as Rescuers Face Aftershocks, Snow and Blocked Roads

Nighttime earthquake forces thousands from their homes

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake in northern Tibet killed 16 people and injured 65, including 11 seriously, as rescue teams searched damaged villages and authorities moved more than 12,000 residents to safety. Snow, strong winds and roads blocked by fallen rocks threatened to slow the operation.

The earthquake struck at 10:33 pm Thursday in Drachen county, also identified as Baqen or Baqing county, in the Nagchu area of China's Xizang autonomous region, commonly known as Tibet. Nagchu is also written as Nagqu. The epicenter was near Maru township, in a sparsely populated mountainous area northeast of the regional capital, Lhasa.

By 10 am Friday, the city's earthquake relief headquarters counted 11 people with serious injuries and 54 with minor injuries. The death toll remained at 16 while teams continued searching buildings and checking communities.

Authorities said 339 households had homes that collapsed or were damaged, and 20 livestock enclosures were damaged. Other descriptions counted 339 houses or residential buildings as collapsed, leaving the precise division between destroyed and damaged homes unclear.

Electricity and telecommunications were disrupted in the county seat. Families spent the night outside, in roadside tents or in cars, while firefighters, police officers and local residents worked through the darkness.

What the casualty figures show

The earthquake relief headquarters' Friday morning total of 65 injured people provides the fullest breakdown: 11 seriously injured and 54 with less severe injuries. Earlier updates listed smaller totals as assessments continued.

About 17 percent of the injured were in serious condition, calculated from the headquarters' figures of 11 out of 65. Their treatment was an immediate priority alongside finding people who might still be trapped.

Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered rescue work and medical assistance, describing an emergency complicated by altitude and cold weather. He also called for equipment and help for affected residents to reach the area promptly.

Xi set out the rescue priority in his instructions:

(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,

Rescue teams were still assessing villages on Friday. Authorities had not given a complete count of people missing or a final assessment of damage across the affected area.

A shallow quake beneath a mountainous region

The China Earthquake Networks Center placed the earthquake's depth at 10 kilometers. The United States Geological Survey placed it at 18 kilometers in one assessment, with the epicenter about 190 kilometers east northeast of Nagqu and about 390 kilometers northeast of Lhasa.

Both depth estimates describe a shallow earthquake. When a rupture happens relatively close to the surface, seismic energy has less distance to travel before reaching buildings and people. Damage also depends on the strength of local structures, ground conditions and distance from the rupture.

Maru township deputy head Lhawang Dagpo said the earthquake cracked walls in the township office. Strong shaking was also felt in Qamdo and Nyingchi, extending the area where residents experienced the tremor beyond the communities closest to the epicenter.

The China Earthquake Networks Center recorded 413 aftershocks by 7 am on October 23, including 393 below magnitude 3.0 and 20 of magnitude 3.0 or higher. Of the 20 larger aftershocks, 15 were magnitude 3.0 to 3.9 and five were magnitude 4.0 to 4.9; none were magnitude 5.0 or higher. The largest aftershock was magnitude 4.3. Aftershocks are further earthquakes that follow the main rupture as the surrounding ground adjusts. Repeated shaking adds difficulty for teams entering damaged buildings and for residents waiting to learn whether their homes are safe.

Rescuers search villages through the night

Firefighters rescued a trapped resident from a village at about 2:20 am Friday, roughly three hours and 47 minutes after the main earthquake. Other teams searched nearby settlements and assessed damaged buildings.

Xizang's fire and rescue authorities mobilized 347 rescuers, 82 vehicles and more than 4,200 pieces of rescue equipment. A national fire and rescue deployment was listed as 350 personnel and 83 vehicles. Those figures describe closely overlapping mobilizations rather than groups that can simply be added together.

By 6:30 am, 120 rescuers and 27 vehicles from the national deployment had arrived, while the remainder were traveling to the area. Local deployment figures also included a municipal fire brigade contingent of 110 personnel and 25 vehicles, and 225 Armed Police officers and soldiers with 18 vehicles.

More than 300 police officers were dispatched to the hardest hit communities. Nagqu police said officers inspected homes for damage and helped residents move to safer places. Traffic and community police were among those assigned to the operation.

County authorities also mobilized more than 1,600 local people to assist relief work. Their involvement expanded the effort beyond specialist rescue teams as authorities checked scattered communities, moved supplies and helped residents leave damaged homes.

How the emergency unfolded

The first hours brought rescue work, emergency deliveries and a wider government response. Several operations were happening at the same time, with teams searching buildings while other personnel arranged shelter.

• Thursday, 10:33 pm: The magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the Nagchu area.
• Friday, about 2:20 am: Firefighters rescued a resident trapped in a village.
• Friday, by 4:30 am: Emergency supplies began arriving from national, regional, municipal and county authorities.
• Friday, by 6:30 am: A national fire and rescue deployment had 120 rescuers and 27 vehicles at the scene.
• Friday, 10 am: The city's relief headquarters recorded 16 deaths and 65 injuries, including 11 serious injuries.

National authorities raised their emergency response from Level IV to Level III and sent working groups to assist local rescue and relief operations. Xizang also activated a Level III response for disaster relief.

The change meant a stronger national response as the scale of the emergency became clearer. Teams faced several urgent tasks: reaching damaged villages, treating injured people and providing somewhere safe for displaced residents to stay.

Shelter becomes an urgent need in the cold

More than 12,000 people were relocated to safer places. Police and fire crews erected tents while emergency supplies were brought into the disaster zone.

The supplies mobilized included 1,000 prefabricated housing units, 3,239 tents, 2,821 folding beds and 4,280 quilts, together with winter clothing. Prefabricated units are structures made in sections that can be transported and assembled to provide temporary accommodation.

Four generators and 1,000 flashlights were also listed among emergency deliveries. With electricity disrupted, portable power and lighting were practical necessities for work after dark and for residents sheltering away from home.

The equipment totals show the scale of the shelter operation, but deliveries and usable accommodation are separate stages. Tents need suitable ground and must be erected, while housing units need transport and assembly. Authorities had not announced when all displaced residents would have access to temporary accommodation.

Damaged livestock enclosures created another concern for affected households. Alongside repairing homes, families with animals faced the task of finding secure shelter for them in the cold weather.

Snow and blocked roads threaten access

The Nagchu meteorological observatory warned that intermittent snow showers and strong winds could affect the earthquake area over the following three days. Snow accumulation and ice on roads posed additional risks to rescue teams and supply vehicles.

Rockfalls had already closed roads and hindered access to communities at high altitude. Roads are essential to this response because heavy rescue equipment, prefabricated accommodation and bulk supplies must reach villages before crews can put them to use.

Power and telecommunications failures added to the difficulty. Damaged connections can slow requests for assistance and the exchange of information about injuries, blocked routes and shelter needs.

The combination of repeated shaking, disrupted services and worsening weather made the operation more demanding than a search of damaged buildings alone. Rescue teams also needed routes that remained passable and places where evacuated residents could stay warm.

Families leave homes they fear to reenter

Residents described being awakened by shaking and hearing their homes creak or rattle. Some fled before dressing fully, while others drove to open areas and slept in their cars.

Videos released by local authorities showed people leaving buildings, rescue personnel examining rubble with flashlights and supplies being loaded in darkness. Images also showed damaged roofs and emergency workers carrying a person from an affected building.

For evacuated families, an inspection of their home was one of the most immediate steps toward deciding what came next. Nagqu police said checking houses and helping residents relocate were central parts of their work.

The reported damage to hundreds of homes means the emergency extends beyond the initial rescue period. Even households whose buildings remain standing need assessments before repair decisions, while families whose homes have collapsed require accommodation for longer.

Earlier disasters show the region's exposure

Tibet and neighboring parts of western China have experienced other deadly earthquakes. In January 2025, an earthquake in rural Tingri county, near Mount Everest, killed at least 126 people.

In 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Yushu in neighboring Qinghai province, killing at least 2,698 people and leaving nearly 300 missing. Those disasters involved different communities and building conditions, but they form part of the recent record of destructive earthquakes across the region.

The United States Geological Survey warned that structures in the area affected by the latest earthquake were generally vulnerable to shaking. It issued a yellow alert for estimated shaking fatalities and an orange alert for estimated economic losses, warning of potentially substantial damage.

Those alerts are rapid estimates designed to help authorities judge the likely scale of an emergency. For residents in Nagchu, the immediate priorities were more concrete: rescue anyone still trapped, treat the injured, restore access and get displaced families into shelter before difficult weather arrived.

Key Points

• A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the Nagchu area of Tibet at 10:33 pm Thursday.
• The Friday morning toll was 16 dead and 65 injured, including 11 seriously injured.
• Authorities counted 339 households with collapsed or damaged homes and damage to 20 livestock enclosures.
• More than 12,000 people were relocated, and the China Earthquake Networks Center recorded 413 aftershocks by 7 am on October 23, the largest of magnitude 4.3.
• Hundreds of rescuers and police officers joined more than 1,600 local people assisting relief work.
• Tents, prefabricated housing, beds, quilts and generators were mobilized as power and telecommunications remained disrupted.
• Snow showers, strong winds, icy roads and rockfalls threatened rescue access and deliveries.