Magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Tibet kills 16, injures 32, brings down over 300 houses

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale struck the Tibetan plateau on Thursday night. The area is close to the Indian border. At least 16 people have died and more than 32 are injured. The world is already dealing with climate change and El Nino, and Asia now faces another major natural disaster.

The strong tremors were felt at 10.33 pm local time on Thursday. Most people were fast asleep and had no time to react. People ran out of their homes in fear, but within a few seconds of shaking, more than 300 houses collapsed like a pack of cards. Many families lost loved ones, and happy homes were destroyed in an instant.

The quake was so severe that power supply and telephone and mobile services went down across the area. The whole region was plunged into darkness, making relief work harder.

According to the China Earthquake Networks Center and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicentre was in Maru township, Baqen county, in Nagqu in northern Tibet. It lay 10 km below the surface, about 390 km north-east of the Tibetan capital Lhasa.

The area lies at an altitude of 4,864 metres above sea level and is hilly and hard to reach. Severe cold and difficult terrain are making it hard for relief and rescue teams to reach the spot and clear the debris.

According to information available by early Friday, 11 of the injured are in critical condition. The emergency department has issued an alert across the area, and rescue teams are carrying out search operations on a war footing. There are fears that more people remain trapped under the debris. The administration is trying to assess the extent of the damage.