BEIJING (AP) — Magnitude 7 earthquake hits China Tibet Thursday night, killing at least 16 people, injuring 54 others and collapsing hundreds of houses in the northern regional city of Nagqu, state media said.
Search and rescue efforts continued after at least 339 houses and 20 stables collapsed, the Nagqu media office said, citing city government officials.
More than 1,600 people from the local county were deployed for relief efforts. Supplies including 1,000 prefabricated housing units, approximately 3,000 tents and folding beds, as well as flashlights and winter clothing have arrived in the region.
The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 10:33 p.m. local time, with its epicenter 191 kilometers (119 miles) east-northeast of Nagqu, in a sparsely populated high-altitude area of northern Tibet. The depth of the earthquake was estimated at 18 kilometers (11 miles).
The U.S. agency recorded at least seven aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 4.3 to 5.2, all with a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), according to its website.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said Friday that communications were down in some quake-hit areas. Local rail authorities took emergency measures to stop trains passing through the area.
The earthquake also caused rockfalls that forced local authorities to close a section of National Highway 317, allowing only emergency, rescue and official support vehicles to pass while crews worked to clear debris, according to Xinhua.
Intermittent snowfall is expected in the seismic region over the next three days, Xinhua said.
It was the largest earthquake in the region in the past five years, Chinese national broadcaster CCTV said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for all-out efforts in rescue operations and medical relief.
Nagqu is more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of Tibet’s capital, Lhasa.
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