Magnitude-7.0 earthquake hits Tibet in western China, killing 16 and injuring 32

[Financial News] A powerful magnitude-7.0 earthquake in the Tibet Autonomous Region in western China killed 16 people and injured 32. It was the strongest earthquake in the region in the past five years.
According to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, the earthquake struck at 10:33 p.m. on the 22nd (11:33 p.m. Korea time), about 70 km from Baqing County in Nagqu City, Tibet Autonomous Region. Its precise location was 32.40 degrees north latitude and 93.79 degrees east longitude, and its depth was recorded at 10 km. The area near the epicenter is a sparsely populated high-altitude area, with an average elevation of about 4,800 meters.
Xinhua reported that the earthquake caused about 48 casualties, as well as damage including cracks in the walls of homes around Baqing County and the collapse of some buildings. Power outages and communications disruptions were also reported.
Chinese authorities said they dispatched rescue teams immediately after the earthquake and carried out evacuations and relief operations for residents in affected areas. China’s Ministry of Emergency Management and the Office of the State Council Earthquake Relief Headquarters activated a Level IV national earthquake-disaster emergency response, while the China Earthquake Administration separately issued a Level II emergency response.
The Tibet Autonomous Region government also announced that it had activated a Level II earthquake-disaster emergency response and sent rescue and relief personnel and supplies to affected areas. According to earthquake bulletin records from the China Earthquake Networks Center, 54 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or higher occurred within a 200-km radius of the epicenter in the past five years, and this was the largest earthquake in the region during that period. It was also the strongest earthquake recorded anywhere in China since January 2024.
 
[email protected] Park Jong-won Reporter