Videos broadcast by Chinese state television CCTV show homes with gutted walls and collapsed roofs, with stones littering the ground. Other images from the channel show partially buried vehicles or customers of a convenience store fleeing the store when the earthquake knocks products from the shelves.
The 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the township of Tingri, located not far from the Sino-Nepalese border, at 9:05 a.m. (01:05 GMT), according to the Chinese national earthquake agency (CENC). The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported a magnitude of 7.1.
Previous review. “A total of 126 dead and 188 injured were confirmed as of 7:00 p.m. (11:00 GMT) on Tuesday,” announced the official Xinhua news agency. The previous toll was 95 dead.
“The houses are built of earth here, so when the earthquake happened, many houses collapsed,” he explained. The damage appears significant in the commune of Lhatsé, according to a witness interviewed by AFP. “Some of the older houses collapsed, and many of the brick buildings had large cracks,” Meng Lingkang, a 23-year-old tourist traveling with friends, said of the situation there.
Epicentre. Videos geolocated by AFP in Lhatse show debris scattered in front of restaurants. Surrounded by mountains, at high altitude, the canton of Tingri is located in an undeveloped area. The epicenter is about 370 km southwest of the regional capital Lhasa, according to CENC data. According to authorities, more than 3,400 rescuers and more than 340 medical workers have been deployed.
CCTV broadcast images of firefighters working among rubble and with residents, some wrapped in blankets. Authorities have sent emergency aid, including cotton tents, quilts and other equipment to withstand the harsh weather conditions, Xinhua said.
Rescue. Temperatures in Tingri could drop to -16°C tonight, according to China’s National Meteorological Bureau. The canton has around 62,000 inhabitants and is located not far from the Chinese side of Everest. Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “every effort to carry out search and rescue operations as well as treat the injured,” according to CCTV.
-For his part, the Dalai Lama, the main figure of Tibetan Buddhism, who lives in exile, said he was “deeply saddened” by the disaster. “I offer my prayers to all those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery to all those who were injured,” he said in a statement published by his services.
Condolences. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to Xi Jinping, saying Russia “shares the pain” of the Chinese and offering his “sincere condolences.” While earthquakes are common in the region, Tuesday’s was the most powerful recorded within a 200-kilometer radius in the last five years, the CENC said.
In Nepal, the earthquake, which was particularly felt in the capital Kathmandu, struck areas around Namche and Lobuche, very close to Everest base camp. But no deaths have been reported so far, said Nepali Interior Ministry spokesperson Rishi Ram Tiwari.
Catastrophe. In 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people and injured more than 22,000 in Nepal, destroying more than 500,000 homes. An earthquake in December 2023 left 148 dead in the Chinese province of Gansu (northwest). In 2014, more than 600 people were killed in the southwest province of Yunnan. In May 2008, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake left 87,000 people dead or missing in the province of Sichuan (southwest). The disaster was a national shock.
Sam DAVIES
© Agence France-Presse
