World

Injuries in China's Tibet rise after deadly earthquake

By Andrew Silver

Oct 23, 2026

Firefighters inspect an earthquake-hit village in Nagqu City, Tibet — Authorities are checking the damage and helping people relocate after an earthquake in Tibet. -AP

The number of people injured in a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck the southwestern region of ‌China's Tibet has risen to 65, while the death count remains unchanged at 16.

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The ‌quake late on Thursday, with an epicentre in Nagqu, a sparsely populated, high-altitude city in northern Tibet, is the strongest to hit China since January 2024.

More than 300 police officers including traffic and community police personnel were sent ‌to the epicentre ‌to ⁠carry out rescue and emergency relief work, the Nagqu police department said in a separate post on messaging app WeChat early on Friday.

Officers sent to the region checked for damage to homes and helped people relocate to safer locations, the Nagqu police also said in ⁠the WeChat post.

A video the ‌police posted on TikTok sister app Douyin showed officers packing supplies in a truck in the ‌dark and inspecting a building and rubble with flashlights.

More than 12,000 people have been safely relocated, state media outlet Xinhua reported on Friday.

Videos previously released by local official media showed people leaving their homes and seeking shelter outside or in their cars parked on the ‌street.

One resident reported being awakened by the strong quake and hearing the house squeaking during the tremor.

The China Earthquake Networks Centre said in a post that 413 aftershocks had been recorded.

In 2010, a magnitude 7.1 tremor struck Yushu in neighbouring Qinghai province, killing at least 2698 people ⁠and leaving nearly 300 people missing.

with AP