Rescuers battle cold, aftershocks to find survivors in Tibet as new tremor jolts nearby Qinghai

Beijing: Rescuers raced against time to search for survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings in frigid weather amid hundreds of aftershocks, a day after a massive quake hit a Tibetan county while another county in the neighbouring Qinghai province was jolted by a 5.5 magnitude tremor on Wednesday.

Local officials said no casualties have been reported due to the Wednesday's quake that hit the Madoi County in Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province of northwest China at 3:44 pm (Beijing time), tremors for which were also felt in north-eastern Nepal.

The epicentre was at a depth of 14 km, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC). This region forms part of the sprawling Tibetan plateau with average altitude of 13,000 to 15,000 feet.

At least 126 people were killed and 188 injured in Tuesday’s quake at Dingri county in Xigaze in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region in China on Tuesday that witnessed a magnitude 6.8 quake.

The Dingri county, part of the holy town of Shigaste, which is close to the India-Tibet-Nepal trijunction, was hit by 646 aftershocks as of Wednesday.

The largest aftershock had a magnitude of 4.4, and was about 18 km from the epicentre, Hong Li, head of the regional emergency management department told the official media.

Nepal’s Earthquake Monitoring Centre also confirmed hundreds of aftershocks on Wednesday. “But we didn’t record (all) officially, as the epicentre lies outside of the country,” Lok Bijaya Adhikari, Centre's chief said.

However, the one that occurred at 9.36 am (Nepal time) was felt strongly in Lobuche area of Khumbu region in northeast Nepal and also the people in Kathmandu and neighbouring districts such as Sindhupalchowk and Dhading.

This, according to the US Geological Survey, was a quake of 4.8 magnitude in southern Tibet, 80 km northeast of Lobuche in Nepal.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has launched a level-II emergency service response in Dingri, which is home to the northern base camp of Mt Everest.

Telecommunications, roads and power have been restored in the quake-hit region, he said.

Officials also said no geological disasters, such as avalanches, have been observed so far on the Chinese side of the world's highest peak Mt Everest, known in Tibet as Mount Qomolangma, which is located in the quake hit region.

“Mt Everest was not affected by the earthquake, and no obvious icefalls, avalanches or geological changes were observed,” Ma Weiqiang, director of Mount Qomolangma Atmosphere and Environment Comprehensive Observation and Research Station told the media.

Tourist places around the area were shut down after the quake on Tuesday.

Casualties and house collapses have been reported in Dingri, which is home to the northern base camp of Mt Everest.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry highlighted the relief and rescue efforts at the quake hit areas saying that the Chinese government has launched a level-II emergency service response and the disaster response and that the relief work is proceeding in a timely and orderly way.

“As we speak, the first batch of relief supplies sent by the central government has arrived in the quake-hit region; all roads damaged by the earthquake in Dingri County have been repaired and able to be open to traffic,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a media briefing on Wednesday.

A day after the quake, relief and rescue workers were battling high altitude and frigid weather as they searched for survivors.

Tibet authorities had raised the emergency response alert to level one, the highest in a four-tiered system, as rescuers, medical staff and relief supplies arrived at the site.

On Tuesday, Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing led a team to Tingri, telling local authorities to make checks door-to-door, and stressed efforts to resettle survivors, monitor aftershocks and other potential geological disasters, Hong Kong based South China Morning Post reported.

Zheng Long, an assistant with the Tibet Forest Fire Brigade, told the state-run Beijing News that when he arrived at a village on Tuesday evening, most of the houses had collapsed rooftops or cracked walls.

“There was an old woman living by herself. She was not injured, but her four yaks were buried under the rubble. We helped rescue the livestock and retrieve her supplies,” he said.

State broadcaster CCTV showed survivors and evacuees at one of the temporary posts layering tents with thick blankets, while workers cooked hot food to help keep them warm.

Because of the high attitude, rescuers have mostly been locals, as people not accustomed to the thin air could suffer from hypoxia and altitude sickness, said Xie Wenlin, head of the Haixi Blue Sky Emergency Rescue Centre.

Hao Nan, head of Zhuoming Information Aid, an organisation that helps gather and analyse information during natural disasters, said he would recommend against rescue teams travelling there from other regions, the Post report said.

The cold weather is the main factor to consider in the next few months, Hao said. At this time of the year, Tibet records below freezing point temperatures.

In Nepal, 13 people were injured and four houses were damaged by Tuesday’s earthquake, according to officials.

One person each was injured in Kathmandu and Kavrepalanchowk and 11 people fainted in Bara district due to the tremor, according to the police.