Xi calls for speedy response, stresses need to prevent secondary disasters after Xizang deaths

President Xi Jinping ordered all-out rescue efforts to save lives and minimize casualties following a magnitude 6.8 earthquake that struck Dingri county of Shigatse in the Xizang autonomous region on Jan 7.

The earthquake occurred at 9:05 am at a depth of 10 kilometers, claiming 126 lives and injuring 188 people.

In an instruction given following the disaster, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, urged utmost efforts to carry out search and rescue and provide medical treatment for the injured.

He underlined the need to prevent secondary disasters, properly resettle the affected people and handle the aftermath effectively.

It is essential to strengthen earthquake monitoring and early warning, promptly allocate disaster relief supplies and expedite the repair of damaged infrastructure, he said.

Xi also said that measures must be taken to ensure that the basic needs of residents are met and to guarantee a safe and warm winter for all.

On Jan 7, Premier Li Qiang also made instructions regarding the earthquake response, urging efforts to organize all-out rescue operations. Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing led a team to the quake site to guide the rescue and relief efforts.

The quake’s epicenter was in Tsogo township. Within a 20-kilometer radius of the epicenter, about 6,900 people live in 27 villages, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Tseyang Lhamo, a resident of Yupe, a village in Dramso township of Dingri county, said the houses of all but one of the village’s 29 households had collapsed, and that all seven people in her own family were safe.

“When the earthquake occurred, I was about to get up, and my cellphone received an earthquake warning, so I woke up my family and told them to run quickly,” she told China Daily. “Soon our houses all collapsed.”

“I felt dizzy and nauseous, and it was difficult to walk” when the quake hit, she said, but she managed to open the door of the sheep and cow pen, so the animals were not injured as the buildings collapsed.

Tseyang Lhamo and her family moved to an open place, where they awaited the arrival of disaster relief workers who were to set up tents and distribute necessities.

“We’re emotionally stable, except for my mother, who keeps crying about the loss of property,” she said.

She added that an elderly woman who had been trapped had been pulled from the debris by fellow villagers before rescue workers arrived, and that all the other villagers were safe.

Although the village was hit by a power outage, phone signals and networks were fine and transportation infrastructure was mostly intact, so vehicles were able to reach the area, although the ground had cracked a bit, according to Tseyang Lhamo.

Dingri county is along the route to Qomolangma, the world’s highest peak, which is known in the West as Mount Everest. The county is also the closest stopping point for tourists heading to the mountain.

The Mount Qomolangma Scenic Area has been closed pending further notice.

A staff member of the scenic area told China Daily that as of 2 pm on Jan 7, no houses there had collapsed though there were reports of some falling rocks.

“It’s currently the tourism offseason, with few tourists,” so the scenic area was “basically not affected”, he said.

With an average altitude of 4,500 meters and a population of more than 60,000, Dingri is one of the most populous border counties in Xizang. It borders Nepal to the south.

About 3,400 people from various departments including forest firefighters, armed police, public security and the military, along with more than 150 vehicles, had been sent to the front line to carry out search and rescue operations, according to a news conference about the earthquake that was held in Shigatse on Jan 7 afternoon.

Additionally, about 340 medical workers had been sent to the earthquake-stricken area to treat injured or trapped individuals.

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management allocated 100 million yuan ($13.7 million) of central natural disaster relief funds to support the Xizang autonomous region in carrying out earthquake disaster relief work.

Contact the writers at chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn