中国チベットでM7.0の地震、少なくとも16人死亡＝現地報道

On the night of Thursday, 22 October 2026, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake tore through the high-altitude plateau of Nagqu in Tibet, killing at least 16 people, injuring dozens, and toppling residential buildings and livestock sheds. According to Chinese state media and local authorities cited by Xinhua, the tremor struck a high mountainous area in Maru township, Baqen county. The United States Geological Survey recorded the epicenter roughly 190 kilometers east-northeast of Nagqu and 390 kilometers northeast of the regional capital, Lhasa, at a depth of about 10 kilometers. Tremors were also felt in the cities of Qamdo and Nyingchi.

Within minutes of the initial tremor, power lines snapped and telecommunications services were disrupted across the Baqen county seat, plunging the area into darkness. Rocks and soil sliding down from the mountains blocked several key roads, hampering the arrival of rescue crews in the remote highlands. President Xi Jinping ordered all-out search and rescue efforts to locate missing people and provide prompt medical treatment for the injured, while Premier Li Qiang called for the urgent relocation and resettlement of displaced residents. The Ministry of Emergency Management dispatched a working group to guide relief operations and allocated 50 million yuan for disaster relief.

Media additions

Official counts of the destruction and casualties cite at least 16 fatalities. Local government officials reported that at least 339 residential buildings and 20 livestock sheds collapsed. Figures for the injured vary across reports, with state media noting 65 injuries—including 11 people in serious condition—while other reports cite 32 or 54 injuries, or state that dozens more were hurt. The region's harsh climate and high altitude of approximately 4,800 meters compounded the danger, prompting residents to flee into the open or their cars to avoid aftershocks that could trap them inside damaged structures.

The Nagqu emergency management bureau dispatched more than 1,600 personnel, including firefighters, police, military units, and specialist rescue teams. Supplies including 1,000 prefabricated housing units, 3,000 tents, folding beds, flashlights, and winter clothing were brought into the region. State media reported that over 12,400 people have been relocated to safer locations. The China Earthquake Networks Centre logged more than 400 aftershocks following the initial quake, including 20 tremors measuring magnitude 3.0 or above. Railway authorities suspended train services passing through the affected corridor as a precaution.

Survivors shared accounts of the disaster with local media. Speaking to Tibet Daily, Nagqu resident Yixi Cuomu described being asleep in her bed when her house started shaking violently, prompting her to head outside barefoot while her legs trembled uncontrollably. Another eyewitness stated that the shaking felt as if several hundred yaks were running past them. In Maru township, deputy head Lhawang Dagpo noted that cracks appeared in the walls of the township office.

Tibet sits in a tectonically active zone along the collision point between the Indian and Eurasian plates and has endured several destructive events in recent years. In January 2025, an earthquake in Tibet's Tingri region killed at least 126 people. Less than two months before the Nagqu quake, flash floods and landslides triggered by a glacier collapse along the Tibet-Nepal border killed at least 1,400 people and left many missing. Rescue operations face significant logistical hurdles due to high altitudes, limited road access, and rock-laden terrain, compounded by strict information censorship and restrictions on foreign media access in the region.

Authorities continue to assess the full extent of the damage in remote settlements. In the coming days, response teams will monitor aftershocks, clear blocked roads to restore power and communications infrastructure, update casualty figures as remote villages are reached, and inspect transport routes before reinstating train services and regular road traffic.