Death toll from a magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Tibet, southwestern China, remains at 16, while the number of injured people has increased to 65, according to local authorities.
The local government disclosed the updated casualty figures in a social media post on Friday, October 23, following the earthquake that struck the region a day earlier.
The earthquake was centred in Nagqu, a sparsely populated, high-altitude city in northern Tibet.
It is the strongest earthquake to hit China since January 2024.
In response to the disaster, more than 300 police officers, including traffic and community police personnel, were deployed to the epicentre to support rescue operations and emergency relief efforts.
The Nagqu police department disclosed the deployment in a separate post on the Chinese messaging platform WeChat early Friday.
According to the police, officers sent to the affected areas assessed damage to residential buildings and helped residents move to safer locations.
A video shared by the police on Douyin, China’s equivalent of TikTok, showed officers loading relief supplies into a truck at night.
The footage also captured officers inspecting a building and debris with flashlights.
Meanwhile, China’s state news agency, Xinhua, reported that more than 12,000 people had been safely evacuated from affected areas.
Earlier footage released by local official media showed residents rushing out of their homes following the tremor, with some seeking shelter outdoors or inside vehicles parked along the streets.
One resident recounted being awakened by the powerful earthquake and hearing the house squeaking as the tremors shook the building.
The China Earthquake Networks Center reported that 413 aftershocks had been recorded following the initial earthquake.
The disaster has drawn comparisons with the 2010 earthquake in Yushu, a neighbouring area in Qinghai province.
That magnitude 7.1 earthquake killed at least 2,698 people, while nearly 300 others were reported missing.
