Tibet earthquake: CTA President says "damage could be much more", cites limited access to information

Dharamshala: President of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) Sikyong Penpa Tsering has expressed concern over a reported earthquake measuring around magnitude 7 that struck Tangnezong district in Nakchu, northern Tibet, with initial reports from Chinese state news agency Xinhua indicating that 16 people have died and dozens have been injured.

According to Xinhua's latest report published today, 11 of the 32 injured people were in serious condition, while 21 sustained minor injuries, as of 2:25 am (local time). More than 300 houses had collapsed in the affected region.

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The regional emergency command centre in Xizang has activated a Level-II emergency response to the earthquake to expedite rescue and relief operations in the affected areas. Rescue teams have been dispatched to the affected areas to carry out relief and rescue operations. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that railway authorities have suspended train services through the quake-hit areas following the earthquake.

Speaking about the incident, Penpa Tsering said, "Last night, there was an earthquake. This is a recurring phenomenon; we have always been saying that Tibet is a seismic zone and the scale of it is about 7, according to what we hear right now, but it could be more; we still don't know. We'll have to look for more inputs."

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He said the earthquake happened in Nagqu, in a district called Tangnezong. "We have no idea about the impact of that earthquake so far, but according to Chinese sources, Xinhua, because you know, even with the Tibet-Nepal flash floods, there was no access to information, and this place is just north of Lhasa. So it's very difficult to have access to information as of now, but we'll be trying throughout today to find out if there can be any more confirmation of news," the CTA President said.

Citing Xinhua, Penpa Tsering said 16 people have died, while the number of injured stood at some 54, though he cautioned that these were only initial numbers. "More than 339 homes have been destroyed or affected, but at this scale of 7, the damage could be much more. It depends on how many districts it has affected and how many people are in that district. So we will be looking for more information and then get back to you," he added.

Penpa Tsering also said that Nakchu is located in northern Tibet and has a larger population than the area affected by the previous earthquake in southern Tibet, raising concerns about the potential scale of the disaster. "The population is much more than what happened last time in the southern region of Tibet, so the damage could be more. We'll have to see and wait for more information," he said.

Meanwhile, a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck Tibet on Thursday. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicentre was located 183 km east-northeast of Nagqu city in Tibet. As per Xinhua, at least 16 people died and 32 others were injured, with more than 300 houses collapsed in the affected region, while the full extent of the damage is still being assessed.

The earthquake struck Baqen County in Nagqu City at 10:33 pm on Thursday (Beijing time), according to the city's emergency management bureau, as reported by Xinhua.

The National Centre for Seismology (NCS) on X stated, "The quake occurred at 20:03:43 IST at a depth of 173 km, with its epicentre at latitude 32.368 N and longitude 93.853 E."

Further details are awaited.