On October 23, the first press conference on the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Baqen County, Nagqu City, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, was held. As of 13:00 on October 23, the earthquake had caused 16 deaths and 76 injuries, with 339 houses collapsed or damaged and 20 livestock pens damaged. On-site emergency rescue has been fully launched, and all response work is being carried out in an effective and orderly manner. After three rounds of door-to-door, full-coverage searches, no missing persons have been found.

The command system is operating efficiently. The frontline emergency command headquarters has been established and put into operation, exercising unified dispatch, division of responsibility, and synchronized progress. A total of more than 5,000 rescue personnel from the regional, municipal, and county levels have been deployed, organized into search and rescue, medical care, resettlement, supply support, and hazard elimination teams. Power and communications support teams have entered simultaneously, and rescue forces have been deployed in key towns and at key disaster sites.

Search and rescue operations are advancing household by household. Followin g the principle of "leaving no household unchecked, no person unaccounted for, and no blind spots," searches focused on Maru Town and Gangqe Town and extended to neighboring counties, towns, and villages, with "carpet-style" inspections conducted household by household and site by site. For collapsed houses and suspected trapped locations, professional rescue teams carried life-detection, breaking, and support equipment to conduct scientific rescue operations. For remote, scattered herding households, personnel were organized to "knock on doors and see people."

Relocation and resettlement are being implemented in an orderly manner. Relief supplies from the central, autonomous region, municipal, and county levels are arriving successively. Currently in place are 2,000 prefabricated housing units, 3,408 tents, 2,821 folding beds, 4,280 quilts, 3,300 sets of cotton clothing, 3,820 military overcoats, 694 Tibetan robes, 300 heating stoves, 4 generators, 1,000 hand-cranked solar dual-purpose flashlights, and 1,000 head-mounted outdoor lights. Eighteen resettlement sites, including Site 2 in Maru Town, one of the worst-hit areas, have been completed, and the remaining sites are under construction. A total of 12,489 people have been relocated. The resettlement sites provide food, clothing, clean drinking water, warm shelter, and medical care.

Treatment of the injured is timely and targeted. The Municipal Health Commission has coordinated the deployment of medical emergency forces, drawing 139 medical rescue personnel specializing in clinical care, emergency medicine, orthopedics, general surgery, thoracic surgery, imaging, laboratory testing, and preventive medicine. It has dispatched 40 ambulances and 1 mobile CT vehicle, and allocated 354 types and 5,283 units of emergency treatment drugs, 87 types and 9,352 units of first-aid equipment and consumables, and 10 types and 732 units of disease control emergency supplies. Medical rescue forces and supplies from all levels are arriving at resettlement sites successively. Green treatment channels have been opened, and targeted treatment under a "one person, one plan" approach is being provided to the injured. Environmental disinfection, health monitoring, and other measures are being implemented simultaneously, and post-disaster epidemic prevention and control is progressing in an orderly manner.

Secondary disasters are being strictly guarded against. Round-the-clock monitoring and emergency repairs have been fully launched for key locations such as mountains, reservoirs, power stations, river channels, dilapidated buildings, and communications base stations. Damaged communications and power facilities in the quake zone are gradually being restored. Seismological, meteorological, and emergency management departments are conducting rolling consultations and promptly issuing aftershock and weather warnings. Public security and transportation departments are making every effort to keep the "lifeline" for rescue open. A total of 12 roads spanning over 1,700 kilometers, 201 bridges, and 324 culverts have been inspected, 11 hazards identified, and rockfall debris cleared from 7 road sections.

At 22:33 on October 22, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Baqen County, Nagqu City. The epicenter was located at 32.40 degrees north latitude and 93.79 degrees east longitude, with a focal depth of 10 kilometers. The earthquake was high in magnitude and shallow in depth. Strong tremors were felt in core areas of the epicenter, including Maru Town and Gangqe Town in Baqen County. Some houses collapsed, power and communications facilities were damaged, and there were casualties. The quake zone is sparsely populated, high in altitude, and low in oxygen, and rescue efforts face many difficulties, including long travel distances, weak communications, and urgent needs for warmth. The area remains in a period of high risk for aftershocks and secondary disasters, and casualty and damage information will continue to be updated.

Translator: Zheng Yujie

First Review: Zhi Xinghua

Second Review: Drakpa Wangchen, Li Chengye

Third Review: Hu Rongguo