BEIJING: Resettlement and medical care efforts are progressing in an orderly manner in Drachen county of Nagchu city in Southwest China’s Xizang autonomous region, which was hit by a magnitude 7 earthquake on Thursday, as authorities stepped up efforts to provide temporary housing and restore normal life in the affected areas.
As of Saturday, major roads in the county remained open to traffic, and power supply to earthquake-affected areas had been fully restored after repairs, reports said.
The earthquake affected 13,673 residents of 34 administrative villages in Maru and Gangchen townships, where the average altitude is 4,800 meters. A total of 12,489 people have been relocated, including 7,600 from Maru and 4,889 from Gangchen, accounting for about 91.3 percent of the affected population.
By Saturday, all 12,489 people had been accommodated in 1,830 tents at 35 resettlement sites across the county. Given the high altitude and low temperatures, local authorities are setting up prefabricated houses equipped with heating stoves to improve living conditions for affected residents.
Relief supplies allocated by central, regional, municipal and county authorities have been delivered to the affected areas, totaling 60,518 items or sets across 20 categories. The supplies include 4,758 tents and 2,000 prefabricated housing units.
As of 5 pm on Saturday, the earthquake had left 16 people dead and 76 injured. All the injured had been taken to hospital for medical treatment. Of them, 40 were treated and discharged, while the others remained hospitalized, local officials said. Sonam Kyi, 40, who lived with 11 family members in a village in Maru township, said local government workers had arranged for them to stay in a tent at a resettlement site.
“We are living in a tent with 10 beds and two stoves provided by the government, and it’s warm inside,” Sonam Kyi said. Nangshig Kyab and his family from Gangchen township were also safely relocated to a resettlement site. Nangshig Kyab said numerous cracks had appeared on the walls of his home, making it unsafe to live in, while the yak shelter and courtyard walls had collapsed.
Township officials arrived at his village to carry out rescue operations within three hours of the earthquake and promptly evacuated residents, Nangshig Kyab said.
By noon on Friday, government-delivered relief supplies had arrived in the village. “We were provided with tents, quilts, bedding, mattresses, heating stoves, instant noodles and other daily necessities, giving us a safe and warm temporary shelter,” Nangshig Kyab said.
By Sunday, the response had shifted toward resettlement and medical care, with construction of prefabricated houses underway.
Tian Lihua, secretary of the Party branch for the Lhasa-Nyingchi area of the fourth branch of China Railway 21st Bureau Group Co, said more materials for prefabricated housing units were expected to arrive in batches on Sunday night and Monday.
Once installed, the prefabricated houses provide better protection against wind and cold and offer better insulation than canvas tents, helping residents withstand the harsh conditions of the high-altitude plateau, Tian said.
Meanwhile, a magnitude 5.7 aftershock struck Drachen county in Nagchu at 7:25 pm on Sunday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
