A 4.5-magnitude earthquake hit Tibet’s Nagqu region early Friday, just 30 hours after a powerful 7-magnitude tremor killed 16 people on October 22. The first quake destroyed 339 homes and left 76 people injured. Police officers rushed to the area to help residents move to safer spots amid ongoing rescue work.
A fresh earthquake of magnitude 4.5 hit China's Tibet Autonomous Region in the early hours of Friday, according to India's National Center for Seismology. The tremors originated at a depth of 10 km, it said.
This comes roughly 30 hours after a strong 7-magnitude earthquake rattled Tibet on Thursday, October 22, and claimed at least 16 lives. Besides the fatalities, it reportedly left 76 people injured.
Hundreds of homes also collapsed due to the tremors, leaving a trail of destruction, according to Chinese state media. The powerful earthquake struck Nagqu, a city north of Tibet’s capital, Lhasa.
According to authorities, at least 339 homes collapsed. Officials expressed concern over further building collapses due to aftershocks and warned of possible casualties from rockslides.
The earthquake was the strongest to hit China since January 2024.
More than 300 police officers, including traffic and community police personnel, were rushed to Nagqu to carry out rescue and emergency relief work, the Nagqu police department said in a post on messaging app WeChat.
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.