Key facts
- A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck China's Tibet region on Thursday.
- The earthquake's epicenter was hundreds of miles north of areas recently hit by a devastating flash flood.
- The flash flood in Nepal and Tibet was caused by a glacial collapse that registered as a seismic event.
- Hundreds have died and over a thousand are missing due to the flash flood.
- China has activated a Level-IV flood response in Tibet due to the risk of a barrier lake breach.
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck China's Tibet region late on Thursday, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). The quake occurred at a depth of 10 km in northern Tibet, hundreds of miles north of the areas in Nepal and China recently devastated by a catastrophic flash flood.
The flash flood, which occurred on Wednesday morning local time, was caused by a massive glacial collapse in the Himalayas. This event registered as a magnitude 5.2 seismic tremor, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The collapse released a torrent of ice, rock, and water that surged down valleys, causing widespread destruction in Nepal and China. Hundreds of people have died, and over 1,000 are reported missing.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency also reported a magnitude 4.7 quake in Nagqu, Tibet, on Wednesday. Amid the ongoing flood crisis and the risk of a barrier lake breach, China has activated a Level-IV flood response in Tibet. The Ministry of Water Resources has directed local authorities to monitor the situation and has dispatched an expert team to Gyirong county, which connects Nepal and Tibet.