BAQEN: Sixteen people have been killed and 76 others injured following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Baqen County in Nagqu City, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, at 10.33pm on Thursday, local authorities said.
The quake has also damaged or destroyed 339 homes and 20 livestock sheds, according to a press conference held on Friday afternoon by the information office of the Nagqu municipal government.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out search and rescue efforts for missing people and prompt medical treatment for the injured, urging every effort to minimise casualties.
Xi also called for close monitoring of seismic activity and weather conditions to prevent secondary disasters, as well as proper accommodation for affected residents and swift repairs to damaged infrastructure.
Premier Li Qiang called for solid disaster prevention and response efforts, while the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) and authorities in Xizang have mobilised resources for rescue and relief operations.
China has allocated 50 million yuan (about US$7.5 million) in emergency disaster relief funds and earmarked another 30 million yuan for recovery efforts. The country has also upgraded its national earthquake emergency response from Level IV to Level III.
More than 5,000 personnel have been deployed to the front lines of the disaster relief operation, working in teams responsible for search and rescue, medical treatment, temporary shelter and the provision of essential supplies.
An emergency command headquarters has been established on the front lines to coordinate relief efforts. As of 10am on Friday, 12,489 residents had been evacuated.
After three rounds of comprehensive door-to-door checks, no missing persons had been reported as of 6pm on Friday, according to the emergency command headquarters.
In a village in Maru Township, one of the hardest-hit areas near the epicentre, Xinhua reporters saw many houses that had completely collapsed, while others had sustained extensive wall damage. Rows of emergency tents had been erected in an open, safe area below the village.
Half of villager Trinley's house had collapsed, burying many of his belongings beneath the rubble. Two white tents had been set up in his courtyard.
"After the earthquake, our biggest concerns were where to stay and what to eat," Trinley said. "The government provided us with supplies including emergency tents, water and instant noodles," he added.
The MEM said that, in addition to the 5,000 relief items previously allocated by the central government, a further 5,000 central relief items, including tents, coats and folding beds, had been allocated.
By coordinating efforts with other relief agencies and companies, the ministry said it had also promptly allocated 43,000 other relief items, including mobile toilets, heating stoves, food and fuel, to ensure that affected people were properly resettled.
The Red Cross Society of China has dispatched a working team to the disaster-hit area to guide local relief efforts. It has also allocated 3,800 sets of supplies, including family relief kits, hygiene kits, heaters, tents, jackets, folding beds and quilts. The society has additionally allocated 50 emergency toilet units to support affected residents and coordinated with the Chinese Red Cross Foundation to provide 500 family relief kits, 500 hygiene kits and more than 1,000 cartons of food to the quake-hit area. The China Charity Federation, one of the country's most influential charity organisations, has urgently allocated 3 million yuan to support emergency rescue efforts.
The earthquake zone has an average elevation of nearly 4,800 metres. The high-altitude, cold and low-oxygen environment, secondary disaster hazards and aftershock risks pose challenges to relief efforts, local authorities said at the press conference.
Deng Xiaogang, a rescuer with Nagqu's fire and rescue team, said that, beyond the low temperatures and low oxygen levels, the biggest challenge was that the epicentre was in a pastoral area, where residents live far apart, making search and rescue operations more time-consuming in the initial stages.
Some herding sites are high in the mountains, and the terrain is rugged, said Jigme Dorje, deputy head of the Baqen County public security bureau. "At first, machines could not reach these places, so we had to climb up and dig through the rubble with our hands, wearing only gloves," he said.
Local authorities said rescue teams would continue to take precautions to overcome difficulties in relief operations.
Night-time temperatures in the quake zone are low. Earthquake-triggered hazards such as landslides, collapses and falling rocks are currently the main secondary disaster risks.
Earthquake monitoring, meteorological and emergency management departments are coordinating closely to issue timely warnings of aftershocks and adverse weather conditions.
Local authorities have launched round-the-clock intensified monitoring of key sites, including mountainsides, reservoirs, power stations, rivers, structurally unsafe buildings and telecommunications base stations. Emergency repairs are also under way, with damaged telecommunications and power facilities gradually being restored.
Pan Zhiqing, Party secretary of Nagqu's emergency management bureau, said that, during follow-up rescue work, personnel would be assigned to accompany rescue teams to inspect geological hazards along mountains and roads. Dangerous areas would be immediately cordoned off, and people and vehicles would be prohibited from passing.
Transportation authorities will monitor road damage in real time, promptly repair and reopen blocked sections, and ensure smooth traffic flow. They will continue to coordinate with meteorological and natural resources departments and issue risk warnings, Pan added.
China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom mobilised emergency repair teams, vehicles and equipment overnight, dispatching personnel to the quake-hit areas to restore communications services and inspect network facilities.
All telecommunications base stations disrupted by the earthquake in Baqen County had been restored as of 10.30am on Friday, according to the Xizang Communications Administration.
The 7.0-magnitude earthquake was an extensional rupture, according to experts with the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC).
"An extensional fracture, in simple terms, occurs when the crust is stretched horizontally and, under tension and gravity, faultage slides downward along existing faultage, forming fractures and rupture surfaces," said Han Yanyan, a senior engineer with the earthquake prediction department of the CENC. - Xinhua
