The death toll in the Tibetan city of Shigatse, China, after Tuesday’s earthquake rose quickly to about 126 and is expected to increase significantly as rescuers reach devastated dwelling zones in the foothills of the Himalayas, making the temblor one of the deadliest in recent Chinese history.
Rescue workers climbed mounds of broken bricks, some using ladders in heavily damaged villages, as they searched for survivors under additional pressure, with temperatures predicted to fall as low as -16°C overnight.
Temperatures in Tingri County, near the earthquake’s epicentre in the northern foothills of the Himalayas near Everest, were already as low as -8°C before night fell, according to the China Meteorological Administration.
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China’s Ministry of Emergency Management and state news broadcaster CCTV posted videos showing more than 1,000 homes that had been damaged, alongside hundreds of cars, while the rescuers dug out scores of people from debris and handed them thick blankets to keep warm before emergency medical teams at the scene attended to them.
At least 188 people were injured in the quake in Tibet, on the Chinese side of the border, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The current death toll would make it the third deadliest earthquake in China in the past decade. The magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck the remote region at around 9:05 AM local time (04:05 EAT), according to the United States Geological Survey, sending tremors as far as the other side of the Himalayas, into neighbouring Nepal, Bhutan, and parts of northern India.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for a massive rescue effort to minimise casualties and resettle those whose homes were damaged.
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