Magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits Tibet in western China; at least 16 killed
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Tibet in western China, killing at least 16 people and injuring 32 others, according to state media. Hundreds of houses have collapsed.
The earthquake struck at 10:33 p.m. local time on Thursday in Baqing County in the Nagqu area. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) put the epicenter 191 kilometers (119 miles) east-northeast of Nagqu, at a depth of 18 kilometers (11 miles).
The casualty figures were preliminary as of 2:25 a.m. Friday, Xinhua reported, citing Nagqu’s Emergency Management Bureau. Eleven of the injured were seriously hurt and 21 suffered minor injuries. The bureau said 339 houses had collapsed.
Rescuers are searching for survivors and providing assistance to the injured while authorities continue to assess the extent of the disaster, according to the report.
About 111,000 people were exposed to moderate to severe shaking, according to USGS estimates. This included about 3,000 people in areas with severe shaking, 4,000 with very strong shaking and 42,000 with strong shaking.
The USGS said the earthquake resulted from normal faulting within the Tibetan Plateau, where the crust is stretching east to west. The region is seismically active because of the collision between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, which drives the uplift of the Himalayas and the plateau.
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake in April 2010, about 272 kilometers (169 miles) east-northeast of Thursday’s epicenter, killed more than 2,500 people. The USGS said the impact of large earthquakes in this sparsely populated region varies significantly depending on their proximity to population centers.
