United States: Rescuers in Tibet, a high-altitude region in western China, continued searching for victims of a deadly earthquake for a second day. The earthquake struck near a holy city for Tibetan Buddhists. After the search, their focus shifted to helping the survivors.
On Wednesday, more relief supplies like tents, quilts, and stoves were sent to people whose homes were damaged and unsafe. The area has very cold temperatures, often dropping below freezing at night, and is located about 4,200 meters (13,800 feet) above sea level.
State broadcaster CCTV captured workers placing rows of large black and white tents with metal frames and stakes after nightfall on Tuesday. Originally planned as an emergency shelter, they had inner linings of quilted fabric to prevent the structure from getting cold.
After a 6.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Tibet and shifted the region’s landscape, at least 126 people were known to have been killed and 188 injured. Chinese officials said over 400 people trapped by rubble have been rescued https://t.co/Vy6JR60vpS pic.twitter.com/5COHGnou6J
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 8, 2025
As reported by the detroitnews, the workers tossed packaged meals to the occupants of the shelter, while wearing dark blue winter jackets over their standard issue orange vests.
Medical workers in this photo released by Xinhua News Agency give the first aid to injured people at the temporary tents at the People’s Hospital after the earthquake in Dingri County in Xigaze, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region on Tuesday January 7th, 2025.
The confirmed death toll reached 126 with another 188 injured as of Tuesday evening, and there was no reports during the day on Wednesday. At a late afternoon briefing news conference, Hong Li, director of Tibet’s Emergency Management Department said that while much of the operation had transitioned from search and rescue to resettlement and reconstruction, there were still some individuals unaccounted for.
Tibet Earthquake Kills at Least 126 People and Leaves Many Trappedhttps://t.co/tq0vnx1d20
— Ron (@Hoss7923) January 8, 2025
This earthquake occurred in an outlying county of the city of Shigatse – the traditional home of the Panchen Lama, and which is the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism. It was unclear whether he was in his Tashi Lhunpo Monastery at the time, or the extent of the damage that its second largest city has incurred.
Most of the damage was from the epicenter of the quake that was approximately 25 kilometers or 15 miles from the main part of the city known as Xigaze in Chinese and situated in a high altitude plain.
There was no report of any casualty or major damage done by the quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said occurred at 7.1 magnitude. The earthquake center in China registered 6.8 on its scale. The quake was also about 75 kilometers (50 miles) from Mount Everest and the border with Nepal, where the shaking caused people in the capital flee their homes.