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At least 18 people have been killed and 56 injured in twin earthquakes in China’s Tibet region, with at least 11 of the injured reported to be in critical condition.
The quakes also destroyed at least 339 homes across the region. The first earthquake measured 7.0 on the Richter scale, while the second had a magnitude of 5.0.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the first quake struck at 10:30pm local time on Friday, followed by the second at around 11:10pm, approximately 40 minutes later.
The epicentre of the first, magnitude-7.0 earthquake was in a remote mountainous area of the Himalayas, about 390 kilometres northeast of Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, at a depth of just 10 kilometres, the USGS said.
The second quake originated about 323 kilometres north-northwest of Basar district in India’s Arunachal Pradesh state, near the Tibetan border, at a depth of 15 kilometres.
A video recorded during the first earthquake has gone viral on social media. It shows people rushing out of a restaurant as items fall from supermarket shelves.
Initial assessments confirmed that 339 homes had collapsed. The Tibetan regional government has deployed more than 300 police personnel to assist in rescue operations.
China’s central government has issued a Level III emergency response for Tibet and dispatched relief supplies and specialised rescue teams to the affected areas.
Heavy snowfall is forecast in the affected areas over the next 24 hours, raising concerns that difficult weather conditions could hamper rescue efforts and increase the death toll.
In January 2025, an earthquake in Tingri County, Tibet, killed at least 126 people.
Earlier, on August 26, severe flash floods in the Tibet-Nepal border region reportedly killed around 1,500 people, with a similar number still missing. The Chinese-administered region was also hit by an earthquake measuring around 5.5 in the first week of September.
In December 2023, an earthquake measuring 6.2 struck China’s Gansu province, killing more than 120 people.
Source: NDTV