At least 16 people were killed and 32 injured after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Tibet late on Thursday, Chinese state media reported, citing local authorities.
More than 300 houses collapsed, and rescue and damage assessment were still under way.
BREAKING: At least 16 people are dead and 32 injured after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Tibet, China, officials say. Hundreds of homes have collapsed. https://t.co/unfVsNUS1x
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— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 22, 2026
Quake Strikes At Night
The tremor hit at 10:33 p.m. local time (8:03 pm IST). The US Geological Survey placed the epicentre in mountainous terrain about 190 km east-northeast of Nagqu and roughly 390 km northeast of the regional capital Lhasa.
China's earthquake network centre put the depth at around 10 km, a shallow focus that typically intensifies shaking at the surface.
Social media posts identified the affected area as Baqen county and neighbouring Sog, Nyainrong and Driru counties. These are high-altitude pastoral areas with sparse populations, which may have limited the scale of the devastation.
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Footage Shows Panic
Videos circulating online, including CCTV clips and footage shared on X, appeared to show the moment of impact, with objects tumbling off desks and people hurrying out of buildings.
Strong shake was felt in Nagchu (ནག་ཆུ 那曲) City following the earthquake in Bachen, Eastern Tibet. The epicenter is close to Bachen, Sog, Nyainrong, Drinchen counties. The region is a sparsely-populated pasture land, and hopefully the damage remains minimal 🕊️ https://t.co/wrMo0GvKu3
— Kyang Thang རྐྱང་ཐང་ (@Kyangs_Thang) October 22, 2026
🚨 Un sismo de magnitud 7 sacudió la región del #Tíbet, en #China, con epicentro al noreste de la ciudad de Nagqu. Hasta el momento no se han confirmado víctimas. https://t.co/jzny8r08Ml
— Juan Carlos Valerio (@JCarlos_Valerio) October 22, 2026
Early posts suggested residents of Maru township were sheltering outdoors and in their cars as aftershocks were feared. One post said China had activated a Level II emergency response.
So far two people have been injured in the M7.0 earthquake in Tibet and are receiving treatment. Residents in Maru township are sheltering outdoors and in their cars. China has activated its Level II emergency response. No deaths have been reported so far. https://t.co/mcW5BfkPr8
— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) October 22, 2026
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Second Tremor Reported
Separately, the National Centre for Seismology said a magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck China at 8:29 p.m. IST, around 505 km north-northwest of Pangin in Arunachal Pradesh, at a depth of 15 km. It was not immediately clear whether the two events were linked.
Region Already Under Strain
The quake comes weeks after flash floods killed over 1,400 people in the Nepal-Tibet border region in August, sweeping away homes and buildings across northern and central Nepal.
Tibet sits on the collision zone between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Strong earthquakes are a recurring hazard across the plateau, and many rural homes are built from materials that are vulnerable to heavy shaking.
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