Magnitude 5.3 earthquake strikes China’s Tibet

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck China’s Tibet region on Saturday, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) said, a day after a powerful tremor killed 16 people and injured 76 in the region.

The latest earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres, according to GFZ.

The tremor followed a magnitude 7 earthquake that struck southwestern Tibet on Friday, with local authorities reporting 16 deaths and 76 injuries.

More than 12,000 people relocated

Local government authorities said the magnitude 7 earthquake, centred in Nagqu, a sparsely populated region of China, was the strongest to hit the country since January 2024.

More than 300 police officers, including traffic and community police personnel, were deployed to the epicentre to assist with rescue operations and emergency relief, the Nagqu police department said in a post on the Chinese messaging platform WeChat on Friday.

Officers inspected homes for damage and helped residents move to safer locations, according to the police department.

Footage shared by police on Douyin, the Chinese counterpart of TikTok, showed officers loading supplies into a truck at night and inspecting a building and rubble with flashlights.

More than 12,000 people had been safely relocated, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Videos released earlier by local official media showed residents leaving their homes and seeking shelter outdoors or inside cars parked along the streets.

One resident said the strong earthquake had awakened them and that they heard their house creaking during the tremor.

Hundreds of aftershocks recorded

The China Earthquake Networks Center said in a post that 413 aftershocks had been recorded following the main earthquake.

The latest magnitude 5.3 tremor struck as authorities continued rescue and relief efforts after Friday’s earthquake.

In 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Yushu in neighbouring Qinghai province, killing at least 2,698 people and leaving nearly 300 others missing.