China yesterday ordered an “all-out” rescue effort in a remote area of Tibet after an earthquake killed at least 16 people and injured dozens more, state media reported.

Footage showed rescue workers clambering in the dark through some of the 339 houses that Xinhua said collapsed or were damaged in Thursday evening’s magnitude 7.0 quake.

Seventy-six people were injured, 11 of them seriously, and more than 12,000 residents were evacuated following the quake, Xinhua reported.

Photo: Xinhua via AP

Hundreds of rescue workers and police were deployed, as well as sniffer dogs and equipment, to locate people under the rubble, CCTV said, adding that more than 300 soldiers were also mobilized.

The epicenter was in Baqing County, state media said.

One resident told local media that her family had just gone to bed when her home shook, knocking over objects, and that they “rushed outside without even taking the time to get dressed.”

“My legs were shaking the entire time I was heading downstairs, and by the time I reached the bottom, I was so terrified that I burst into tears,” the woman said.

Residents “are afraid to return to their homes,” she said. “They set up tents along the roadside or spent the night in their cars.”

CCTV also showed emergency personnel with helmets carrying a person and shining flashlights on damaged buildings, some with collapsed roofs.

Tibet is largely inaccessible to foreign journalists and Chinese authorities are the only source of official information.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) said the tremor caused “significant casualties” and took place at a “high-altitude location” in cold weather.

We “must go all-out to carry out search-and-rescue operations and do our utmost to treat the injured, so as to minimize casualties,” Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.

In Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday expressed condolences to China over the deadly earthquake and urged Taiwanese in the area to stay safe.

The Straits Exchange Foundation was trying to contact Taiwanese in the affected area to check on their safety, the MAC said.

The government’s registration system for Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau showed that 164 people were in Tibet, the council said, urging Taiwanese to stay safe.

Additional reporting by CNA