NAGQU, Tibet — A powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked a remote, high-altitude stretch of China’s Tibet region late Thursday, leaving 16 people dead and 76 others hurt, local officials said Friday.
The quake hit Baqen County in the city of Nagqu at 10:33 p.m. local time. Officials with the Nagqu city government gave updated casualty counts at a Friday press briefing, saying the death toll had held steady while the number of injured kept rising.
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It was the strongest earthquake to strike China since January 2024. The area is thinly populated, but cracked and leaning homes could still give way as aftershocks roll through, officials warned. The China Earthquake Networks Center had logged 413 aftershocks.
More than 5,000 workers were sent to the disaster zone for search and rescue, medical care, shelter and supplies, and crews were working to bring back damaged power and phone service. Officials have relocated more than 12,000 residents.
Road crews checked more than 1,700 kilometers of roads, along with 201 bridges, and cleared fallen rock from seven stretches of highway so relief convoys could get through. The Red Cross Society of China sent a team and 3,800 sets of relief supplies, including tents, heaters, jackets and quilts.
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