Magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes Baqen County in Tibet; two people injured, officials say

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Baqen County in Nagqu, in China’s Tibet (Xizang) Autonomous Region, at 2:33pm GMT on Thursday 22 October, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. It said the quake was 10 km deep. The US Geological Survey also measured it at magnitude 7.0.

The China Earthquake Administration launched a Level-II emergency response, Xinhua reported.

Two injured people were found in Gangqie township and taken for treatment, the Baqen County emergency management bureau told CCTV, as of about 4:24pm GMT. The bureau said all 10 townships in the county felt the quake, and that houses had cracked in Maru and Gangqie, the townships closest to the epicentre.

Xinhua reported that the epicentre was in Maru township, about 70 km from the county seat, where the quake was strongly felt and power and phone signals were disrupted. Lhawang Dabu, a deputy head of Maru township, told Xinhua that walls of the township office had cracked and some houses had collapsed, and that checks of villages were under way.

In neighbouring Qamdo, high-rise residents in counties near the epicentre went outdoors and schools gathered students on sports grounds, according to Xinhua. Wen Yunchun of the Qamdo emergency management bureau said 80 rescue workers had been sent to Dengqen, Lhorong and Banbar counties. The first Baqen fire and rescue team was on its way to the affected area, CCTV reported.

The USGS issued a yellow alert for possible shaking-related fatalities and an orange alert for economic losses. It said many buildings in the region are adobe or unreinforced brick and vulnerable to shaking.