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A devastating earthquake in China’s remote Tibet region killed at least 126 people and damaged thousands of buildings yesterday [NZDT], state media reported, with tremors also felt in neighbouring Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and parts of India.
Videos published by China’s state broadcaster CCTV showed houses destroyed with walls torn apart.
Rescue workers waded through rubble strewn across the ruins in the aftermath of the earthquake, footage showed, while some gave locals thick blankets to keep warm in subzero temperatures.
Update: A total of 126 people have been confirmed dead and 188 others injured as of 7 p.m. Tuesday, after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Dingri County in southwest China's Xizang on Tuesday morning. Search and rescue operations is still ongoing as night falls. pic.twitter.com/257cqSrJN3
The quake struck rural, high-altitude Tingri county, about 80km north of Mount Everest near China’s border with Nepal, at around 9am (0100 GMT) on Tuesday.
“Here the houses are made from dirt so when the earthquake came... lots of houses collapsed,” said 34-year-old Sangji Dangzhi, whose supermarket in Tingri suffered considerable damage.
Rescuers work in an earthquake-affected area in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. Photo / Xinhua via AFP
Speaking to AFP by phone, Sangji described the situation as “very serious”, with ambulances taking people to hospital throughout the day.
Surveillance images published by CCTV showed people running through a store’s aisles as shelves shook violently, sending objects like toys tumbling to the ground.
At least 126 people have been confirmed dead and 188 others injured as of 7pm, CCTV said.
The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) measured the quake’s magnitude as 6.8, while the US Geological Survey reported it as 7.1.
When tourist Meng Lingkang arrived in the town of Lhatse, 65km from the epicentre, “the buildings had cracked open”.
“Some of the older houses collapsed, and a large part of the buildings made from bricks had cracked open, with big fissures,” the 23-year-old told AFP.
Videos geolocated by AFP to Lhatse showed debris scattered in front of streetside eateries.
“There were quite a few (rescue vehicles). One after the other they arrived,” Meng added.
Rescuers are braving freezing temperatures in combing through rubble in their search and rescue of survivors after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted a county in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on Tuesday morning. #XinhuaNewspic.twitter.com/dRk0fTwwmt
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for “all-out search and rescue efforts, minimising casualties to the greatest extent possible, properly resettling affected residents, and ensuring their safety and warmth through the winter”, the state broadcaster said.
Temperatures in Tingri are projected to drop to -16C overnight, according to the China Meteorological Administration.
Authorities said more than 3400 rescuers and over 340 medical workers had been deployed.
Aid including cotton tents, quilts and cold-weather equipment had been dispatched by central authorities, state news agency Xinhua said.
Tingri is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shigatse, home to the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, one of the most important spiritual figures in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.
“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,” the exiled spiritual leader said in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his “sincerest condolences”, saying Russia “shares the grief of those who have lost relatives and close ones”.
As well as Kathmandu, areas around Lobuche – in the high mountains near Everest in Nepal – were also rattled by the tremor and aftershocks.
“It shook quite strongly here, everyone is awake,” said government official Jagat Prasad Bhusal in Namche region, which lies closer to Everest.
Security forces had been deployed but no damage or deaths had been reported so far, Nepali home ministry spokesman Rishi Ram Tiwari said.
Nepal lies on a major geological faultline where the Indian tectonic plate pushes up into the Eurasian plate, forming the Himalayas, and earthquakes are a regular occurrence.
