Rescuers continued to search for survivors in frigid temperatures Wednesday after a devastating 6.8-magnitude earthquake killed at least 126 people in China's Tibet region.
A powerful earthquake struck on Tuesday at the foothills of the Himalayas, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest. Tremors also shook buildings in neighboring Nepal, Bhutan and India.
At least 126 people have been confirmed dead and 188 injured in Tibet's Shigatse region, according to Chinese state media, and initial investigations indicate more than 3,600 homes have been destroyed.
Photos and videos online show scores of homes and buildings reduced to rubble.
“The houses here are made of earth, so when the earthquake hit…many houses collapsed,” said Sanji Danji, 34, whose supermarket in Tinri was badly damaged.
Officials said more than 400 people had been rescued so far, but the number of missing people was still unknown. More than 500 aftershocks recorded since Tuesday and extreme cold have complicated rescue efforts. Temperatures in the high plateau dropped to -18 degrees Celsius (0 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight, adding to the misery of those who lost their homes and forcing authorities to scramble to secure blankets and temporary shelter. It became.
The epicenter was in Tingri County, where about 62,000 of Shigatse's 800,000 residents live. It is much less developed than urban centers like Tibet's capital, Lhasa.
No deaths were reported in Nepal or elsewhere.
The Chinese government on Tuesday raised the national emergency response level to the highest of four levels. State media said military personnel, 3,400 rescue workers and hundreds of medical workers were sent to help the injured. Footage showed rescue workers wading through rubble strewn across the ruins in the aftermath, with some giving locals thick blankets to protect them from the cold.
State media said tents, food rations, generators and other supplies had arrived at the scene by late Tuesday, and all sections of the road damaged by the quake had been reopened.
“Buildings cracked,” tourist Meng Lingkang said in the city of Latse, 65 kilometers from the epicenter.
“Some of the old houses collapsed and most of the brick buildings were cracked with large cracks,” the 23-year-old told AFP.
“We will carry out all-out search and rescue operations, minimize casualties as much as possible, properly relocate the affected population, and ensure their safety and warmth during the winter,” state broadcaster quoted Chinese leader Xi Jinping as saying. “Do it,” he called.
The Chinese government, which administers parts of Tibet as an autonomous region within China, rejects criticism from rights groups and exiles who accuse it of trampling on the religious and cultural rights of Tibetans.
Partnership with Reuters and Agence France-Presse
