China on Friday deployed satellites and drones to search for survivors after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck a mountainous region in Tibet, killing at least 16 people and injuring 76 others
BEIJING — China on Friday deployed satellites and drones to search for survivors after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck a mountainous region in Tibet, killing at least 16 people and injuring 76 others, authorities said.
The high-intensity shallow earthquake, which struck at a depth of below 10 km at 10.33 PM on Thursday, caused widespread devastation and heavy casualties in the remote Baqen County of the city of Nagqu in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.
So far, 12,489 residents have been evacuated, and rescue and relief operations, along with the resettlement of affected residents, are underway, state-run Xinhua news agency reported from Lhasa, the regional capital.
To assist the rescue efforts, China has deployed satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to conduct emergency communication support and imaging of the quake-hit area, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said on Friday.
The fragile Tibetan Plateau is prone to powerful earthquakes as it lies in a region where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide, generating significant seismic activity.
China has allocated 50 million yuan (about USD 7.5 million) in emergency disaster relief funds and earmarked another 30 million yuan for recovery efforts following the earthquake, according to Xinhua.
More than 330 houses collapsed or were damaged in the quake, and the extent of the damage is being assessed, according to earlier reports.
The detailed breakdown of the 76 injured, including the number of people seriously hurt, was not immediately available.
Passenger trains on the affected section of the Qinghai-Xizang Railway resumed operations at reduced speeds on Friday morning, China Railway Qinghai-Xizang Group Co Ltd said.
State Grid Xizang Electric Power Co Ltd said electricity had been restored to 1,937 households in the quake-hit area of Baqen County as of 10 am (local time) on Friday.
Relief supplies dispatched by authorities at various levels have reached the affected area. These include 1,000 sets of prefabricated houses, 3,239 tents, 2,821 folding beds and 4,280 quilts, along with other essential items, according to Xinhua.
The area around the epicentre has an average altitude of more than 4,800 metres. Temperatures are expected to fall to minus nine degrees Celsius over the next three days, with intermittent snowfall forecast on Saturday in three townships near the epicentre, local weather authorities said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out search and rescue operations for missing people and prompt medical treatment for the injured.
In his instructions, Xi called for every effort to be made to minimise casualties. He also stressed the need to closely monitor seismic activity and weather conditions to prevent secondary disasters, given the high altitude and low temperatures in the affected area.
Xi called for proper accommodation for affected residents, swift repairs to damaged infrastructure and measures to safeguard people's lives and property.
Experts with the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC) termed Thursday’s quake an “extensional rupture”.
Focal mechanism solutions show the event was basically consistent with regional tectonic characteristics.
"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, as quoted by Xinhua.
The CENC explained that the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates had caused the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, crustal shortening and thickening, and widespread plateau deformation.
These processes are the main dynamic mechanism controlling tectonic deformation in the western part of Tibet. "The epicentre is located within the Changtang block of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, about 2 km from the nearest fault, the Baqen-Riwoqe fault," Han said.
Since 1900, the block has experienced six earthquakes of magnitude 7 or above, including this one. The largest was a 7.5-magnitude earthquake in Shuanghu on November 8, 1997. "Therefore, this earthquake was an energy release of the Changtang block," Han said.
Critics also point to China’s massive construction of hydropower projects, including the construction of a USD 167.8 billion dam, stated to be the world’s biggest over the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, warning that they are placing additional strain on the ecologically fragile Himalayan region, often described as the ‘Roof of the World’.