A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck China’s Tibet region on Thursday night local time, killing more than a dozen people and destroying hundreds of houses, according to local officials.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake occurred at 10:33 pm local time and its epicenter was 119 miles east-northeast of the Nagqu region, a sparsely populated high-altitude area in northern Tibet.
Chinese state media said the earthquake killed at least 16 people and injured 54 others.
The Nagqu media office quoted city officials as saying that search and rescue operations were continuing after at least 339 houses and 20 livestock sheds collapsed. The media office said that among the injured, 11 were seriously injured and 35 others suffered minor injuries.
The local county mobilized more than 1,600 people to participate in the rescue. Supplies including 1,000 prefabricated homes, approximately 3,000 tents and folding cots, as well as flashlights and winter clothing, have arrived in the area.
China Central Television said it was the region’s worst earthquake in the past five years.
Nagqu is located more than 186 miles north of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.
The USGS determined the depth of the earthquake to be 11 miles. Xinhua News Agency quoted the China Seismological Network as saying the depth was 6.2 miles.
Less than two months after the earthquake hit the border area between Nepal and Tibet Hit by devastating flash floods Caused hundreds of deaths destroyed several communities. authorities said flood It was caused by glacier collapse.