A magnitude 7 earthquake struck China’s southwestern Tibet region at around 10:33pm on Thursday (1433 GMT), the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) reported.

Casualties and damage had not been immediately confirmed.

According to CENC data, the epicentre was in a high-altitude county in Nagqu, northern Tibet, at a depth of 10km (6.21 miles). The average elevation within 5km of the epicentre is approximately 4,864 metres.

CENC said the earthquake was the strongest to strike China since January 2024 and was clearly felt in the surrounding area. The epicentre was approximately 400km from Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

In 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Yushu in neighbouring Qinghai province, around 280km away. The disaster killed at least 2,698 people and left nearly 300 others missing.