Powerful Tibet earthquake kills 18 people and injures 32 others
A magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck Tibet, killing 18 and injuring 32. Over 300 houses collapsed, prompting rescue efforts with 300+ police deployed.
At least 18 people were killed after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck the Tibetan Plateau in China on Oct 22.
Another 32 people were injured, 11 seriously, China Central Television reported, citing the emergency response command centre in the autonomous region.
Initial inspections found that 339 houses had collapsed. Local authorities in Tibet have deployed more than 300 police officers to assist with the ongoing rescue operations.
The earthquake struck about 191km east-northeast of Nagqu, Tibet, about 10:33pm local time on Oct 22, according to the US Geological Survey. It was followed by a 5.2 aftershock.
The Tibetan Plateau has endured several major earthquakes since 1900. USGS counts 29 earthquakes above 7.0 “within the Tibetan Plateau and along its bounding regions” over that period. The most powerful quake, in 1950, was a magnitude-8.6 that killed more than 4,000 people, it said.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency said China’s Ministry of Emergency Management activated a Level IV national emergency response and sent a working group to the affected region. The sparsely populated area around the epicentre has an average elevation of about 4,800 metres. BLOOMBERG
Source: The Straits Times https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/powerful-tibet-earthquake-kills-18-people-and-injures-32-others?ref=latest
