China’s Xi Jinping orders urgent relief after Tibet earthquake leaves 16 dead

All efforts need to be focused on search and rescue for survivors and treating the injured, President Xi Jinping instructed on Friday morning, after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake killed 16 and injured 54 in China’s Tibet autonomous region overnight.

“The disaster-hit area is located in a high-altitude region with cold weather. It is imperative to closely monitor seismic activities and weather changes and implement rescue operations accordingly, while preventing secondary disasters,” he said, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Xi added that emergency rescue supplies needed to be allocated and those affected in the disaster should be settled properly, while damaged infrastructure should be repaired as soon as possible.

The weather in the region is minus 5 degrees Celsius (23 Fahrenheit), with a small chance of snow.

Premier Li Qiang also instructed the emergency management ministry and the China Earthquake Administration to continue monitoring the region for any aftershocks.

An emergency team has been sent to the scene, while the local government has organised relief efforts and settled those affected.

More than 300 soldiers and more than 20 vehicles from the Tibet Military Command and the armed police were mobilised to the affected area during the night, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The earthquake hit Baqing county, a mountainous area about 400km (250 miles) northeast of the capital Lhasa, at around 10.33pm on Thursday, according to Xinhua. More than 300 houses have collapsed and around 20 livestock sheds were damaged.

A level-2 emergency response was activated in the area immediately after the earthquake, while the first batch of relief supplies – including 1,000 prefabricated houses, 3,239 tents, 2,821 folding beds, 200 stoves and four generators – arrived on Friday morning, Xinhua said.