7.0-magnitude earthquake in Xizang kills 16, injures 76; relief supplies expanded

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Baqen County in the city of Nagqu in Xizang at 10:33 p.m. on Thursday, killing 16 people and injuring 76 others as of 1 p.m. Friday, according to official figures. No missing persons had been reported as of 6 p.m. Friday, local authorities said.

The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) has expanded its relief response. It previously sent a working team to the disaster area to guide local relief efforts and allocated 3,800 sets of supplies, including family relief kits, hygiene kits, heaters, tents, jackets, folding beds and quilts. The RCSC Yunnan Branch also dispatched a public health emergency response team to the affected areas as part of the latest relief efforts.

The Western Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army has coordinated ground and air forces to assess the damage and carry out search-and-rescue operations. More than 400 service members and militiamen from the local subcommand and police have been deployed, helping relocate and resettle nearly 500 affected residents as of 5 p.m. Friday. The theater command has also deployed military drones in the quake-hit area to conduct aerial surveys of several villages within a 20-km radius of the epicenter and to inspect for potential secondary disasters.

An analysis by experts at the China Earthquake Networks Center showed that the earthquake was an extensional fracture, basically consistent with the regional tectonic characteristics. The report by Xinhua provided the casualty figures, relief details and expert assessment.