Baqen Earthquake Follow-up: At Least 16 Dead and 339 Homes Collapsed in Nagqu, China's Tibet Region, Xinhua Reports

NAGQU — The first official casualty figures for the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Baqen County, Nagqu, in China's Tibet Autonomous Region, have been released by China's state news agency. According to Xinhua, as cited in an updated CNN report on October 22, the earthquake has killed at least 16 people and injured dozens, and at least 339 houses have collapsed. The extent of the damage is still being assessed, and a rescue team has been dispatched to the epicentre.

The earthquake struck at 10:33 p.m. Beijing time on October 22. The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) placed the epicentre in Baqen County, at 32.40 degrees north latitude and 93.79 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 10 kilometres. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) also measured the quake at magnitude 7.0, placing the epicentre about 183 kilometres east-northeast of Nagqu, with a maximum intensity of VIII. Reuters said it was the strongest earthquake to hit China since January 2024.

The casualty figures emerged as checks advanced. In the first hours after the quake, Chinese authorities had not released casualty numbers, and Reuters, citing China's state broadcaster, reported that local authorities had found at least two people injured in a village near the epicentre, with houses in the villages closest to the epicentre showing cracks. Xinhua later reported that casualties had been reported locally; Lhawang Dagpo, deputy head of Maru Township in Baqen County, told Xinhua that cracks had appeared in the walls of the township office, houses had collapsed in the area, and power and telecommunications services were disrupted in the county seat. A separate Chinese media report put the death toll in Baqen County at 18; early figures from different sources differ, and a final official toll has not yet been released.

According to China Central Television (CCTV), railway authorities have suspended train services through the affected areas. Local fire and rescue teams have mobilised and are heading to the affected region, and a string of smaller tremors of around magnitude 3 and 4 have been recorded following the main quake, after an earlier magnitude 5.2 aftershock.

After the quake, the China Earthquake Administration activated a Level-II emergency response, while the office of the State Council's earthquake relief headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management activated a national Level-IV earthquake disaster emergency response and dispatched a work team to the area. The average elevation within 5 kilometres of the epicentre is about 4,864 metres, in a sparsely populated area about 400 kilometres from Lhasa, the regional capital.

Tibet sits on the collision zone between the Indian and Eurasian plates and is prone to powerful earthquakes. In 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Yushu in neighbouring Qinghai Province, killing at least 2,698 people and leaving nearly 300 people missing.

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 中国西藏自治区那曲市安多县唐古拉山口一带资料图（非本次地震震中现场）：震中所在的巴青县同属那曲市，平均海拔超过4800米。摄影 guan，CC BY 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons 取得。File photo of the Tanggula Pass area in Amdo County, Nagqu, in China's Tibet Autonomous Region (not the epicentre of this earthquake); Baqen County, where the epicentre was located, is also in Nagqu at an average elevation above 4,800 metres. Photo by guan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Latest in World News

Follow-Up: France's Justice Minister Says 4,914 People Have Been Detained Since October 17, With 329 Jailed2026-11-03Malaysia: PM Anwar Says Government and Central Bank Will Hold Separate Meetings on Security Threats2026-11-03