Tibet earthquake: Rescue efforts underway for second day as death toll reaches 126
The toll is expected to go up as rescue efforts gather momentum. Footage shown by state-run Chinese TV showed people being pulled out from the rubble and moved to makeshift medical camps;
The search for survivors in the massive earthquake disaster that struck a remote region of Tibet on Tuesday, continued for the second day, even as more than 400 people who were trapped in the foothills of the Himalayas have been rescued.
According to Chinese officials, over 30,000 residents have been relocated, as the search for survivors entered a second day on Wednesday (January 8). By midnight Beijing time, 126 people were confirmed dead and 188 injured, state-run news agency Xinhua said quoting officials.
The toll was expected to go up as rescue efforts gathered momentum, officials said. Footage shown by state-run Chinese TV showed people, including children, being pulled out from the rubble and being carried by stretchers to makeshift medical camps.
Temperatures in the high-altitude region dropped to as low as minus 18 degrees Celsius (0 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight, adding to the misery of those left homeless.
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Magnitude of earthquake
The epicentre of Tuesday's magnitude 6.8 quake, one of the region's most powerful tremors in recent years, was located in Tingri in China's Tibet region, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Mount Everest. It also shook buildings in neighbouring Nepal, Bhutan and India.
China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC) said the quake was of 6.8 magnitude, while the US Geological Service (USGS) said it was at 7.1 magnitude.
No deaths have been reported in Nepal or elsewhere, where damaged buildings shook. The CENC said the quake struck at a depth of 10 km. Shallow quakes cause maximum damage, and Tuesday's quake highlighted the ecologically fragile nature of the Himalayan region prone for volatile seismic activity.
Several places in Bihar too were jolted, but there was no loss of life nor any damage to property.
Watch | Is Tibet earthquake a warning signal to China's dam-building ambitions?
Shigaste, holy city hit
The quake jolted Dingri county in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) at 9.05 am (Beijing Time), with the epicentre located in Tsogo township, Dingri county, in the city of Xigaze.
Xigaze is located 90 km north-east of Lobutse in the Khumbu Himalayan range in northeast Nepal, and is the last border town of Tibet not far from the Nepal-Tibet-Indian tri-junction touching Sikkim. Xigaze, also Shigaste, is the seat of Panchen Lama, the second most influential Buddhist monk after the Dalai Lama.
Shigaste also suffered significant damage in the massive 8.1-magnitude quake in 2015 when 18 people were killed and 55 injured. The quake hit Nepal and the wider Himalayan region where 9,000 people were killed.
Tsogo township
The Tsogo township, where the epicentre was located, has a population of approximately 6,900 people within a 20-km radius. There are sparsely populated 27 villages within this area while the Dingri County has a population of over 61,000 people, official data shows.
The Dingri county lies on the northern slope of the Himalayas in southern Tibet. With an average altitude of 4,500 metres, it is home to the northern base camp of Mt Everest, referred in Tibet as Mount Qomolangma, the world's highest peak.
China has announced the closure of the tourist places near its side of the Mt Everest even when the tourists and the staff of the many resorts in the area were reported to be safe.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered an all-out rescue efforts in the affected areas and urged efforts to prevent secondary disasters, properly resettle affected residents, and handle the aftermath work effectively.
Also read: Tibet earthquake: Death toll rises to 53; tremors felt in Nepal, India
Dalai Lama offers his prayers
Dharmasala-based Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, expressed profound sadness over the loss of lives in the devastating earthquake. “I offer my prayers for those who have lost their lives and extend my wishes for a swift recovery to all who have been injured,” he said in a message.
Meanwhile, in Nepal, the strong earthquake was felt in and around Kathmandu and also in Kavrepalanchwok, Sindhupalanchok, Dhading and Solukhumbu districts.
People came out of their houses due to panic as buildings, trees and other road-side infrastructure were seen shaking for many seconds early in the morning. As the epicentre was located in Tibet's area nearer to northeastern Nepal, people there felt stronger tremors, Nepal Police spokesperson Bishwo Adhikari said.
However, he said there was no information regarding any human causality.
At least half a dozen tremors with magnitude ranging from 4 to 5 were also recorded within a time span of an hour around 7 am (Nepal time), according to the USGS report.
The tremor was strong enough to terrorise people in Nepal, who recalled the 2015 earthquake that killed 9,000 people.
Prone to earthquakes
China refers to Tibet as Xizang, part of the Himalayan region.
The Tibetan plateau is known to be prone to heavy earthquakes as it sits right over the place where the tectonic Eurasian and Indian plates meet, often colliding with huge force. Southwestern parts of China, Nepal and northern India are often hit by earthquakes caused by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, which are pushing up an ancient sea that is now the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau.
Over the past five years, there have been 29 earthquakes with magnitudes of 3 or above within 200 km of the epicentre of Tuesday's temblor, according to the Sichuan province's earthquake bureau.
Tuesday's quake was the worst since a 6.2 magnitude earthquake in 2023 that killed at least 149 people in a remote northwestern region of the country.
After Tuesday’s quake, China’s ministry of water resources said inspections had not revealed any impacts on dams or reservoirs in the county, the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post reported.
The quake was one of many witnessed periodically in the high-altitude Himalayan region bringing focus on concerns being expressed over China’s latest plan to build the world’s biggest dam estimated cost of USD 137 over the Brahmaputra or Yarlung Tsangpo river close to Arunachal Pradesh.
In Tibet, agricultural authorities said after the latest quake they were also checking local winter food supplies, animal vaccines and disinfectants, as well as carrying out confirming and documenting casualty numbers and structural damage, CCTV said.
An expert at the rescue centre warned of possible aftershocks in the coming days.