A magnitude 7 earthquake in a remote, high-altitude part of Nagqu in northern Tibet has killed at least 16 people and collapsed at least 339 homes, according to Chinese state media.
As of Friday afternoon (AEDT), Chinese state media put the toll at 16 dead and 65 injured, DW reported in an update at 2.26pm AEDT on Friday 23 October. Of the 65 injured, 11 were in serious condition, the local media office said, according to DW. Chinese official media also said at least 20 livestock sheds had collapsed, The Guardian reported at 3.04pm AEDT on Friday 23 October.
The number of injured in the official figures rose during Friday. Xinhua’s first report, citing Nagqu City’s emergency management bureau, gave 16 dead and 32 injured, ABC News reported. As of 2.25am on Friday local time, 11 of those injured were in serious condition and 21 had minor injuries, according to the Xinhua figures carried by the ABC. Across the successive official figures, the death toll stayed at 16 while the number of injured rose from 32 to 65.
A Shallow Quake at High Altitude
The earthquake struck at about 10.33pm local time on Thursday 22 October, which was 1.33am AEDT on Friday 23 October.
The epicentre was in a sparsely populated, high-altitude county in Nagqu, at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres, according to China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) data reported by ABC News. The US Geological Survey (USGS) put the epicentre 191 kilometres east-northeast of Nagqu and the depth at 18 kilometres, The Guardian reported.
The average elevation within 5 kilometres of the epicentre is about 4,864 metres, ABC News reported, citing the CENC. The ABC put the epicentre about 400 kilometres from Lhasa.
It is the strongest earthquake to hit China since January 2024, according to ABC News. The USGS recorded at least seven aftershocks of magnitude 4.3 to 5.2, The Guardian reported.
Rescue and Relief
A level-II earthquake disaster emergency response was activated, Al Jazeera reported, citing Xinhua.
More than 1,600 people from the local county were deployed for the rescue, according to The Guardian. Supplies including 1,000 prefabricated housing units and about 3,000 tents and folding beds had arrived, the paper reported. The housing units and tents arrived as official media counted at least 339 collapsed homes in the quake zone.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts in rescue operations and medical relief, The Guardian reported.
Communication was down in some areas, and railway authorities halted trains through the region, The Guardian reported, citing Xinhua. Rockfalls closed a section of national highway 317 to all but emergency, rescue and official vehicles.
The Tingri Quake of 2025
Tibet has been hit before. In January 2025 at least 126 people were killed in an earthquake in Tibet’s Tingri county, ABC News reported.
Snow Forecast as the Search Goes On
Intermittent snow was expected in the quake region over the next three days, The Guardian reported on Friday 23 October, citing Xinhua. The snow is forecast for a sparsely populated area where the average elevation near the epicentre is about 4,864 metres, and where communication was down in some places and rockfalls had closed part of national highway 317.
Rescue and relief work was continuing on Friday 23 October. The toll of 16 dead and 65 injured is based on figures released by Chinese state media.
More world news is in our International section.
Sources: The Guardian, “Magnitude-7 earthquake hits China’s Tibet, killing at least 16 and destroying hundreds of homes”, 23 October 2026 (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/23/magnitude-7-earthquake-hits-china-tibet); ABC News, “Magnitude-7 earthquake hits China’s Tibet region, killing 16 people”, 23 October 2026 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-23/magnitude-7-earthquake-hits-chinas-tibet-region/107299584); Al Jazeera, “Magnitude 7 earthquake kills 16 people in China’s Tibet”, 22 October 2026 (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/22/magnitude-7-earthquake-kills-16-people-in-chinas-tibet-xinhua-reports); DW, “Tibet earthquake kills at least 16 people, injures dozens: state media”, 23 October 2026 (https://www.dw.com/en/tibet-earthquake-kills-at-least-16-people-injures-dozens-state-media/a-79738117)
Photo: Luo Shaoyang, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Illustrative: grazing yaks on grassland in Nagqu County, Tibet, photographed in July 2007. This photograph was not taken after the earthquake of 22 October 2026.
