Patchwork of resilience: A drone view showing makeshift tents for the quake-affected residents. — Reuters
Relief teams in western China shifted their focus to resettling survivors after a search on Wednesday for any remaining victims of a deadly earthquake that struck a day earlier near a holy city for Tibetan Buddhists.
Tents, quilts, stoves and other relief items were being delivered to people whose homes were uninhabitable or unsafe.
State media said that more than 46,000 people had been relocated following the quake, which killed 126 and injured 188 others.
Tibetans, many of whom have fled persecution in China, held vigils for the victims in neighbouring India and Nepal.
The earthquake struck an outlying county in Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet and the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism.
It was not immediately known whether he was in his Tashi Lhunpo Monastery at the time.
The epicentre was about 25km from the main part of the city, which is called Xigaze in Chinese and sprawls across a high altitude plain.
Honouring the departed: Tibetan people in Nepal gathering to offer prayers in remembrance of those who lost their lives. — AP
More than 500 aftershocks were recorded after Tuesday’s earthquake, which the US Geological Survey said measured magnitude 7.1. China’s earthquake centre recorded a magnitude of 6.8.The epicentre was about 75km from Mount Everest and the border with Nepal, where the shaking sent people running out of their homes.
Earthquakes in China happen most frequently on the Tibetan Plateau or its fringes.
About 200 Tibetans lit candles and marched on the two main streets of Dharamshala, India, chanting prayers and carrying signs saying they stand with the victims and calling for aid to help them.
In the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, about 50 Tibetans chanted prayers at a Buddhist monastery.
“We are praying for the souls of the so many people who lost their lives in Tibet because of the earthquake yesterday,” said Riya Tamang, who runs a shop.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun expressed confidence that the earthquake-affected population would be able to rebuild under “the strong leadership” of China’s ruling Communist Party.
State broadcaster CCTV aired videos showing workers erecting rows of tents with metal frames and stakes to house survivors.
The tents were lined with quilted padding to hold back the cold in a region with an average altitude of about 4,200m and where temperatures fall well below freezing overnight.
Hong Li, the director of Tibet’s Emergency Management Department, told a news conference that the work had shifted from search and rescue to resettlement and reconstruction.Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing, who visited survivors, called for the acceleration of post-disaster reconstruction to ensure they can be safe and warm this winter, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Earlier in the day, a CCTV video showed rescuers in orange uniforms clambering up huge chunks of debris with sniffing search dogs.
Blue disaster tents with bright red Chinese flags flapping in the wind had been set up near rows of houses that had been reduced to rubble.
A preliminary survey found that more than 3,600 houses had collapsed, Xinhua said, citing the Shigatse government. — AP
