Tibet earthquake: 16 dead, 12,000 people have left their homes
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake in a sparsely populated part of Tibet has killed at least 16 people and destroyed or damaged more than 300 homes. After the main shock, 10 kilometres deep, 413 aftershocks have been recorded so far.
Illustration: AI
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Tibet on Thursday evening. According to Chinese state media, at least 16 people died. The number of injured differs between reports: STA (the Slovenian Press Agency), RTV SLO (Slovenia's public broadcaster) and Reuters report 65 injured, while earlier reports by AFP, citing China's Xinhua agency, put it at 32, 11 of them in critical condition. According to the authorities, more than 300 homes are damaged or destroyed.
The quake hit at 22.33 local time, 16.33 Central European Time. The epicentre was in a mountainous, sparsely populated area about 400 kilometres northeast of the capital Lhasa, at a depth of 10 kilometres. The daily Dnevnik reports that it is the strongest earthquake in China since January 2024. The China Earthquake Networks Center confirmed 413 aftershocks.
More than 1,600 people are involved in rescue and search operations. Chinese state media report that around 1,000 prefabricated houses, more than 3,200 tents, generators and lamps have already been sent to the area. Police are checking damage to residential buildings and helping people move to safer locations. More than 12,000 people have left their homes, the BBC reports. The authorities have declared a state of emergency, and according to N1, a Slovenian news portal, telecommunications and electricity supply have been cut.
President Xi Jinping said, according to Xinhua, that the high-altitude earthquake caused a "significant number of casualties", and called for swift help for residents.
"We must carry out search and rescue operations and do everything in our power to reduce casualties as much as possible." (translated)
The earthquake follows August floods that hit southwestern Tibet as well as neighbouring Nepal. Around 1,450 people died on both sides of the border, and at the start of October more than 5,500 were still missing. For comparison: in 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Yushu area in the neighbouring province of Qinghai, killing at least 2,698 people.
Sources
- Močan potres v Tibetu zahteval 16 življenj in poškodoval 300 domov „V Tibetu na jugozahodu Kitajske je potres z magnitudo 7,0 zahteval 16 žrtev, ranjenih je bilo 65 ljudi.“
- Tibet stresel močan potres, v reševalne akcije vključenih več kot 1600 ljudi „Moramo izvesti iskalne in reševalne operacije ter storiti vse, kar je v naši moči, da bi čim bolj zmanjšali število žrtev“
- V potresu v Tibetu 16 mrtvih „V potresu je nastala velika gmotna škoda, porušilo se je več kot 300 stavb, prekinjene so telekomunikacije in dobava elektrike.“
- Močan potres v Tibetu: najmanj 16 ljudi umrlo, več poškodovanih „Gre za najmočnejši potres na Kitajskem od januarja 2024.“
- V Tibetu po potresu potekajo reševalne akcije „Zaradi potresa je svoje domove zapustilo več kot 12.000 ljudi“
- Po silovitem potresu v Tibetu reševalci bijejo bitko s časom „Več kot 12.000 ljudi je zapustilo domove, reševalci pa iščejo preživele.“
Saj ni res. is an independent Slovenian newsroom. This is an English translation of our Slovenian story; the Slovenian original is authoritative.
