A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Tibet on Thursday, killing 16 people and injuring 32 others, according to the city’s emergency management bureau.
The powerful tremor also caused more than 300 houses to collapse, prompting emergency teams to launch rescue and relief operations across the affected areas.
As of 2.25 am on Friday, 11 injured people remained in serious condition, while 21 others sustained minor injuries.
Authorities continued to assess the extent of the damage and coordinate relief efforts, Xinhua News Agency reported.
More than 300 police officers have been deployed to the earthquake’s epicentre to support relief operations.
The regional fire and rescue corps has also mobilised 347 personnel to assist affected communities and respond to emergency requirements.
According to India’s National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the earthquake occurred at a depth of 173 kilometres beneath the Earth’s surface, with its epicentre approximately 400 kilometres from Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.
The latest tremor follows other significant seismic events in the region. Tibet recorded a magnitude 5.0 earthquake on September 3 at a depth of approximately 14 kilometres. In January 2025, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre, killed more than 120 people and injured hundreds.
The latest disaster has renewed concerns about the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a region vulnerable to earthquakes and other natural hazards.
Experts have warned that rising temperatures, retreating glaciers and increasingly extreme weather events could compound disaster risks across the high-altitude region.
The earthquake follows devastating disasters along the Nepal-Tibet border, where August flash floods triggered by an ice-rock avalanche destroyed homes, roads and bridges, damaged hydropower projects and left thousands missing.
Authorities continue to assess the damage and support survivors.
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