Wire reporting: (AFP, via CNA), (AP, via The Philadelphia Inquirer)

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck northern Tibet on Thursday evening, and Nagqu city officials later said 16 people were killed and at least 32 were injured^1,4.

The U.S. Geological Survey placed the quake at 10:33 p.m. local time, 119 miles east-northeast of Nagqu, at a depth of 11 miles¹. China's China Earthquake Networks Center put the depth at 10 kilometers, or about 6.2 miles, and located the epicenter in a sparsely populated, high-altitude county of Nagqu, including Baqen County^2,3.

Xinhua, cited by CBS News via Agence France-Presse, said more than 300 homes collapsed¹. An Associated Press dispatch carried by The Philadelphia Inquirer said Nagqu's media office, citing city officials, reported at least 339 homes collapsed, 11 of the injured in serious condition and 21 with minor injuries, with search and rescue continuing⁴.

Earlier state-media accounts, before those totals, said at least two people were injured near the epicenter and that some houses showed cracks^2,3. CCTV said it was the biggest earthquake in the region in five years¹. CNA, carrying AFP, said it was the strongest to hit China since January 2024².

China's earthquake administration activated a Level-II emergency response, Euronews reported, and the Nagqu Battalion of the Lhasa Fire and Rescue Mobile Detachment sent an advance team of seven firefighters with life-detection equipment³. CNA said fire and rescue teams were heading to the area and that aftershocks of about magnitude 3 and 4 followed².

Nagqu sits more than 186 miles north of Lhasa, CBS News reported¹. CENC said the average elevation within 5 kilometers of the epicenter is about 4,864 meters². Independent confirmation of the death toll beyond Chinese official and state-media accounts was not available in the sources reviewed.