Earthquake kills 16 in Tibet, injures dozens

A magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck northern Tibet late Thursday, killing 16 people and injuring dozens more, Chinese state media reported, as rescue teams were deployed to the affected region.

BEIJING: A magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck northern Tibet late Thursday, killing 16 people and injuring dozens more, Chinese state media reported, as rescue teams were deployed to the affected region.

The quake struck Baqen County in Nagqu City at 10:33 pm local time on Thursday, according to Chinese state media. The initial toll reported by Xinhua was 16 dead and 32 injured, including 11 in serious condition. The number of injured subsequently rose, with Chinese state media reporting 76 injured by Friday afternoon.

Local authorities found at least two injured people in a village near the epicentre, while some houses in nearby villages developed cracks, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The epicentre was in a sparsely populated, high-altitude area of Nagqu, in northern Tibet, at a depth of about 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC). The average elevation within five kilometres of the epicentre is about 4,864 metres (15,960 feet), CENC data showed.

Videos released by state-run media showed residents leaving their homes and seeking shelter outdoors or in parked cars. The tremor was strongly felt in the surrounding area, CENC said. The epicentre was about 400 kilometres from Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

Fire and rescue teams were sent to the affected area, state media reported.

A magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck Yushu in neighbouring Qinghai province in 2010, killing at least 2,698 people and leaving nearly 300 others missing.