China's natural resources departments are carrying out an emergency screening for secondary geological hazards in the Xizang autonomous region following a deadly earthquake on Thursday. They have now completed surveys of all hazard sites within 50 kilometers of the epicenter.

The Ministry of Natural Resources activated a Level III emergency response on Friday morning quickly after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck Drachen county in Nagchu city in Xizang at 10:33 pm on Thursday. The earthquake, with a focal depth of 10 km, resulted in 16 deaths and 76 injuries.

Emergency personnel included a seven-member team of experts from the ministry who will conduct field inspections alongside local professionals.

A back-end team used pre- and post-quake satellite imagery to analyze 80 glacial lakes and 145 glaciers within the 50-km zone. The analysis showed no significant impact on glaciers or lakes, and no signs of glacial-lake outburst floods triggered by the earthquake.

The ministry also launched an emergency surveying and mapping response to ensure the production of specialized imagery maps for severely affected areas. This included creating pre- and post-quake image comparisons for Maru and Gangche townships, providing three-dimensional mapping services for parts of Maru township, and conducting InSAR deformation analysis using radar imagery.

The Xizang natural resources department also activated a Level II geohazard response, mapping hazard sites within 100 km of the epicenter. Drones, satellite navigation devices and other equipment were deployed for rapid aerial surveys.

As of now, the natural resources system has deployed 78 people, 21 vehicles and 13 drones across 18 teams within the quake zone to assess the geological safety of temporary settlements, the slope stability around residential areas, and the deformation of known hazard sites.

Surveys have also been conducted at 16 temporary housing sites, 77 residential clusters, and 19 existing protection works, identifying 157 geohazard sites, with 122 being preexisting and 35 newly detected, and implementing preventive measures in all high-risk locations. No casualties from secondary geological hazards have been reported.

Building on the completion of surveys within 50 km of the epicenter, the teams are now expanding their investigation with simultaneous assessments underway.