BEIJING (AP) – Relief teams in western China have shifted their focus to resettling survivors after searching for remaining victims on Wednesday. deadly earthquake The incident occurred the day before near a sacred site for Tibetan Buddhists.
Tents, quilts, stoves, and other relief supplies were delivered to people who were unable or unsafe to live in their homes. According to state media, the quake displaced more than 46,000 people, killed 126 and injured 188.
Tibetans, many of them fled persecution in Chinaheld vigils for the victims in neighboring India and Nepal, both of which have large communities.
The earthquake struck the remote prefecture of Shigatse, Tibet’s second-largest city and traditional capital. Panchen LamaThe second highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism.
It was not immediately known whether he was at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery at the time. The epicenter was about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the main city center, known as Xige in Chinese, and spread out across a high plain.
In this photo published by Xinhua News Agency, first responders conduct a rescue operation in the village of Changsu Township, Dingli County, Shigaze City, southwest Tibet Autonomous Region, China, on January 7, 2025. (Hu Zibei/Xinhua News Agency, Associated Press)
More than 500 aftershocks were recorded after Tuesday’s quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said measured a magnitude 7.1. The epicenter of the earthquake in China recorded a magnitude of 6.8.
The epicenter was about 75 kilometers (50 miles) from Everest and the Nepal border, and the shaking caused people to flee their homes. earthquake in china It occurs most frequently on or around the Tibetan Plateau.
About 200 Tibetans lit candles and marched down two main streets in Dharamshala, India, chanting prayers and holding placards calling for support and sympathy for the victims. This city in the hills of northern India has His Holiness the Dalai LamaThe highest rank of Tibetan Buddhism. He fled Tibet in 1959. Rebellion against Chinese rulewas seen as encroaching on the region’s Buddhist culture.
In Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, about 50 Tibetans chanted prayers at a Buddhist monastery. “We pray for the repose of the souls of the many people who lost their lives in Tibet in yesterday’s earthquake,” said Riya Tamang, who runs the store.
Ever since the boy appointed by the Dalai Lama disappeared in the mid-1990s and a Chinese-backed candidate was approved for the position of Panchen Lama, the Chinese government and followers of the Dalai Lama have been wondering who There has been a feud over who should assume the position of Panchen Lama. The Dalai Lama refused to recognize the current Panchen Lama.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama will lead a prayer service in memory of the victims in Dharamshala on Thursday, according to an announcement on his website.
“We are very clear about the Dalai Lama’s separatist nature and political plans, and we remain on high alert,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said in response to a question about the prayer ceremony. .
He expressed confidence that residents affected by the earthquake could rebuild under the “strong leadership” of China’s ruling Communist Party.
In this photo published by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for and rescue survivors after an earthquake in Dingli Changsu Town, Xigaze City, Tibet Autonomous Region, southwest China, on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. (Liu Yousheng/Xinhua News Agency) via AP)
State broadcaster CCTV aired video showing workers erecting rows of tents with metal frames and stakes to house survivors. The tents were lined with quilted padding because overnight temperatures can drop below freezing in the region, which has an average altitude of about 4,200 meters (13,800 feet).
Hong Li, director of the Tibetan Emergency Management Agency, said at a news conference late Wednesday afternoon that operations had shifted from search and rescue to resettlement and reconstruction.
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, who visited the survivors, called for speeding up post-disaster reconstruction to ensure survivors stay safe and warm this winter, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Early in the day, surveillance camera footage showed rescue workers in orange uniforms, accompanied by sniffer dogs, climbing over a huge mass of rubble. Near a row of houses reduced to rubble, a blue disaster tent with a bright red Chinese flag fluttering in the wind was set up.
Tsering Phuntsog, the Communist Party leader in Gulum village, told Xinhua on Tuesday that at least 22 of the 222 residents were killed. His 74-year-old mother was among the victims.
“When the earthquake struck, not only the elderly and children, but even young people could not escape from their homes,” said a local leader.
According to Xinhua News Agency, citing the Shigatse government, a preliminary survey revealed that more than 3,600 houses were destroyed.
Tibet is generally closed to foreign journalists over reporting on mistreatment of its people by Chinese authorities.
___
Bourdain reported from Taipei, Taiwan. Associated Press journalists Ashwini Bhatia in Dharamshala, India, and Binaj Gurubacharya in Kathmandu, Nepal, contributed to this report.
