China deploys satellites and drones after deadly 7.0 Tibet earthquake

China deployed satellites and drones as rescuers searched earthquake-hit Baqen County. Freezing temperatures and snowfall threaten to complicate relief efforts across the high-altitude region.Beijing/lhasa,Oct 23, 2026 19:06 ISTChina deployed satellites and drones on Friday to search for survivors after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck a mountainous region in Tibet, killing at least 16 people and injuring 76, news agency Press Trust of India reported.The shallow earthquake struck at 10.33 pm on Thursday at a depth of less than 10 km, causing widespread damage in Baqen County in Nagqu city, part of China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Rescue and relief operations are underway, while 12,489 residents have been evacuated.More than 330 houses collapsed or were damaged, and authorities are assessing the extent of the destruction. A detailed breakdown of the injured, including the number of people seriously hurt, was not immediately available.According to PTI, citing state-run Xinhua news agency, satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles have been deployed to provide emergency communication support and capture images of the affected area. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation announced the deployment on Friday. China has allocated 50 million yuan, or about USD 7.5 million, for emergency disaster relief and set aside another 30 million yuan for recovery work.Passenger trains on the affected section of the Qinghai-Xizang Railway resumed services at reduced speeds on Friday morning, China Railway Qinghai-Xizang Group Co Ltd said. Electricity had been restored to 1,937 households in the affected part of Baqen County by 10 am local time, according to State Grid Xizang Electric Power Co Ltd. Relief supplies sent by authorities have reached the affected area. They include 1,000 sets of prefabricated houses, 3,239 tents, 2,821 folding beds, 4,280 quilts and other essential items, Xinhua reported.The area around the epicentre has an average altitude of more than 4,800 metres. Temperatures are expected to fall to minus nine degrees Celsius over the next three days, while intermittent snowfall is forecast on Saturday in three townships near the epicentre, local weather authorities said.Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered extensive search and rescue operations for missing people and prompt treatment for the injured. He called for every effort to minimise casualties and stressed the need to monitor earthquake activity and weather conditions closely to prevent further disasters because of the area's high altitude and low temperatures.Xi also called for proper accommodation for affected residents, swift repairs to damaged infrastructure and measures to protect people's lives and property.The Tibetan Plateau is prone to powerful earthquakes because it lies where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, generating significant seismic activity.Experts at the China Earthquake Networks Centre described Thursday's earthquake as an “extensional rupture”, in which the Earth's crust is stretched horizontally and parts of a fault slide downwards under tension and gravity, creating fractures.“An extensional fracture, in simple terms, occurs when the crust is stretched horizontally and, under tension and gravity, faultage slides downward along existing faultage, forming fractures and rupture surfaces,” Xinhua quoted Han Yanyan, a senior engineer with the centre's earthquake prediction department, as saying.The centre said the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates had led to the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the shortening and thickening of the Earth's crust, and widespread deformation across the plateau. These processes are the main forces shaping the western part of Tibet.“The epicentre is located within the Changtang block of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, about 2 km from the nearest fault, the Baqen-Riwoqe fault,” Han said.Since 1900, the block has experienced six earthquakes of magnitude 7 or above, including Thursday's quake. The strongest was a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Shuanghu on November 8, 1997. “Therefore, this earthquake was an energy release of the Changtang block,” Han said.Critics have also pointed to China's large hydropower projects in the region, including a USD 167.8 billion dam over the Brahmaputra River in Tibet that is stated to be the world's biggest. They have warned that such projects place additional strain on the ecologically fragile Himalayan region, often described as the “Roof of the World”.Rescue teams are continuing to search for survivors and assist displaced residents as authorities restore essential services, assess the damage and prepare for freezing temperatures and snowfall in the earthquake-hit region.With PTI Inputs- Ends