A 3.3 magnitude earthquake rattled Tibet early Tuesday, according to India’s National Center for Seismology (NCS). The quake hit at a shallow depth of just 10 kilometers, which means it could trigger aftershocks and pack a bigger punch on the surface.
The NCS shared the details on X (formerly Twitter): The tremor struck at 4:28 a.m. IST on September 30, 2025, with coordinates at 30.19 degrees north latitude and 95.23 degrees east longitude. You can check out their post here: NCS X post.
Why does depth matter? Shallow earthquakes like this one send stronger seismic waves racing to the ground, shaking things up more intensely. That can lead to bigger risks for buildings and people nearby compared to deeper quakes.
Tibet sits in one of the world’s most earthquake-prone spots, thanks to the massive clash between the Indian tectonic plate and the Eurasian plate. This ongoing collision has pushed up the towering Himalayas and thickened the Earth’s crust under the Tibetan Plateau, creating a hotspot for seismic activity.
The plateau stretches east to west, and its faults come in different flavors. In the north, strike-slip faults dominate, sliding past each other horizontally. Down south, the action shifts to east-west stretching along north-south normal faults. Scientists first spotted seven of these north-south rifts in southern Tibet back in the late 1970s and early 1980s using satellite images. They started forming about 4 to 8 million years ago.
Tibet’s biggest shakes—those reaching magnitude 8 or higher—usually happen on strike-slip faults. Smaller ones from normal faulting, like a series of quakes between magnitudes 5.9 and 7.1 in 2008, pop up across the plateau too. If you’re in the region, staying prepared for earthquakes in Tibet is key, given this active geology. ()
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