High-intensity earthquake hits Tibet, 16 killed

China on Friday deployed satellites and drones to search for survivors after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck a mountainous region in Tibet, killing at least 16 people and injuring 76 others, authorities said.

The high-intensity shallow earthquake, which struck at a depth of below 10 km at 10.33 PM on Thursday, caused widespread devastation and heavy casualties in the remote Baqen County of the city of Nagqu in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.

So far, 12,489 residents have been evacuated, and rescue and relief operations, along with the resettlement of affected residents, are underway, state-run Xinhua news agency reported from Lhasa, the regional capital.

To assist the rescue efforts, China has deployed satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to conduct emergency communication support and imaging of the quake-hit area, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said on Friday.

The fragile Tibetan Plateau is prone to powerful earthquakes as it lies in a region where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide, generating significant seismic activity. China has allocated 50 million yuan in emergency disaster relief funds and earmarked another 30 million yuan for recovery efforts following the earthquake, according to Xinhua.

More than 330 houses collapsed or were damaged in the quake, and the extent of the damage is being assessed, according to earlier reports. The detailed breakdown of the 76 injured, including the number of people seriously hurt, was not immediately available.

Passenger trains on the affected section of the Qinghai-Xizang Railway resumed operations at reduced speeds on Friday morning, China Railway Qinghai-Xizang Group Co Ltd said. State Grid Xizang Electric Power Co Ltd said electricity had been restored to 1,937 households in the quake-hit area of Baqen County.

Relief supplies dispatched by authorities at various levels have reached the affected area. These include 1,000 sets of prefabricated houses, 3,239 tents, 2,821 folding beds and 4,280 quilts, along with other essential items, according to Xinhua.

The area around the epicentre has an average altitude of more than 4,800 metres. Temperatures are expected to fall to minus nine degrees Celsius over the next three days.