Shallow quake strikes Nagqu at a depth of 10 km, around 400 km from Lhasa
Lhasa, October 22: A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.0 struck northern Tibet on Thursday, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). It struck at a shallow depth of 10 km (6.21 miles).
Data from the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC), cited by Reuters, placed the epicentre in a county in Nagqu prefecture, at 32.40 degrees north latitude and 93.79 degrees east longitude. That is roughly 400 km from the regional capital, Lhasa. The terrain around the epicentre is remote and high, with an average elevation of about 4,864 metres within 5 km.
The CENC said the tremor was clearly felt in surrounding areas. There was no immediate information on casualties or damage.
Shallow earthquakes of this size can cause severe shaking near the epicentre. However, the sparse population of the high plateau may limit the impact.
The Tibetan Plateau is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. It sits where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide, a slow but relentless collision that also continues to push up the Himalayas. In January 2025, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Tibet’s Tingri county, near the Nepal border, killed more than 120 people and damaged thousands of homes.
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