Rescue work continues in western China

The inhabitants of Qinghai province on the border with the Tibetan Autonomous Region were woken up in their sleep by a series of quakes and aftershocks. Chinese state media and eyewitnesses reported that buildings, schools, offices and houses all over the region around the epicenter in Jiegu county had collapsed.

However, there were also whole districts that were completely undamaged. New shopping centers, for example, survived the quake.

In the town of Jiegu, 85 percent of the houses had collapsed. They had been mainly made from mud and wood. "It is complete chaos here," an eyewitness reported from the rubble. "Rescue work is going on everywhere. Much of the housing has collapsed. People are helping each other and the government is also organizing help."

Private organizations sent in aid shipments for the thousands of victims who have lost everything. 5,000 additional aid and medical personnel were sent out to the region.

Those who were already there looked forward to reinforcements. "About 10 trucks are on the way – coming from Guoluo", a rescue worker said. "It is quite close to here, about 700 kilometers away. The region is gigantic. We are trying to do our best to rescue those we can get to easily."

Using bare hands to pull out survivors

The rescue teams were relying mainly on their bare hands to pull people alive from the debris. The streets of Jiegu were filled with people who had escaped but many of them had head injuries. Officials worried that strong winds and sleet that have been predicted for the next few days would hamper the rescue efforts.

But one rescue worker was still hopeful about getting people out alive: "We are trying to rescue people from the collapsed buildings. The rescue teams are trying to get boarders out of a professional school. Over 20 of them are still under rubble. Another rescue team is trying to get people out of a hotel. There are 40 people inside. We are in contact with them. They’re alive."

Although a lot of victims were pulled out alive from the rubble, there was some concern that the death toll would rise, especially as there was little medical assistance on hand.

"Injured people keep being found. I think the number of victims is not going to be small. Those who were able to escape have gathered outside," a CCTV journalist reported.

Earthquake-prone remote region

Last week, a quake of magnitude 5.1 on the Richter scale hit the remote high-altitude region, which is regularly affected by earthquakes. However, casualties are usually limited because so few people live there – outside of Jiegu.

Most of the region’s inhabitants are Tibetan nomads who live at a height of between four and six thousand meters. They are mainly farmers and livestock herders.

Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, offered his condolences to the victims of the earthquake on Wednesday. He said he would organize a special prayer service from India.

In May 2008, an earthquake in Sichuan province killed at least 80,000 people.

Author: Anne Thomas
Editor: Thomas Baerthlein