Magnitude 7 earthquake in Tibet kills at least 16, injures 32

An earthquake of magnitude 7 struck Tibet, the high-altitude region in western China, killing at least 16 people, three Israeli news outlets reported. The Jerusalem Post reported the quake and the death toll, citing Xinhua, the official news agency of the Chinese government.

Israeli broadcaster N12 gave a fuller picture of the damage. According to N12, at least 16 people were killed, 32 were injured and hundreds of houses collapsed. The news site Ynet placed the quake in Nagqu, an area of Tibet, and also put the number of dead at 16.

Where the earthquake hit

Tibet is administered by China as the Tibet Autonomous Region. It sits on the Tibetan Plateau, a vast and sparsely populated area of high mountains and grassland, often called the roof of the world. Ynet's report names Nagqu, also transliterated as Nagchu, as the location of the quake. Nagqu lies in the north of the region and covers large stretches of remote plateau where communities are spread out.

The reports reviewed here do not give the exact epicentre, the depth of the quake or the time it struck.

What a magnitude 7 earthquake means

Earthquake magnitude is a measure of the energy released at the source. A quake of magnitude 7 is classed as a major earthquake, strong enough to cause serious damage across a wide area, particularly where buildings are not designed to withstand shaking. The reports do not describe the type of buildings that collapsed.

The Tibetan Plateau is one of the most seismically active regions in Asia. It was formed, and is still being pushed upward, by the slow collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, and earthquakes are a recurring feature of life there.

How the news reached Israeli audiences

The Jerusalem Post attributed its figures to Xinhua, China's state news agency. N12 and Ynet published the news as short alerts without stating their own source. Both alerts appeared on the outlets' Telegram news channels, which many Israelis follow for breaking international and domestic news.

The Jerusalem Post illustrated its report with a Reuters handout image of rescue teams among rubble. The caption identifies that image as coming from an earlier earthquake, in Shigatse, Tibet, dated January 7, 2025, so it does not show the damage from this quake.

Points of agreement

All three organisations agree on a death toll of 16. N12 described that figure as a minimum, and The Jerusalem Post and N12 both put the magnitude at 7. Only N12 gave figures for the injured and for collapsed homes, and only Ynet named Nagqu as the affected area. None of the reports contradicts another.

What the reports do not say

The reports leave several questions open. They do not say whether people are still missing or trapped under collapsed buildings, or whether the death toll is expected to change. They do not describe the rescue effort, which agencies are involved, or whether residents have been moved to shelters. There is no information on the condition of the 32 people reported injured, on damage to roads, power or communications, or on whether aftershocks have been recorded.

The reports also do not say whether any foreign nationals, including Israelis, were in the affected area. Israel.com has not independently confirmed the figures, which at this stage rest on the outlets cited above, one of which attributes them to Chinese state media.