Rescuers search for survivors in powerful Tibet earthquake as temps fall below zero
BEIJING — More than 400 people trapped by rubble in earthquake-stricken Tibet have been rescued, Chinese officials said on Wednesday, with an unknown number still unaccounted for in freezing weather a day after a strong tremor rocked the Himalayan foothills.The epicenter of Tuesday’s magnitude 6.8 quake, one of the region’s most powerful tremors in recent years, was located in Tingri in China’s Tibet, about 50 miles north of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain.It also shook buildings in neighboring Nepal, Bhutan and India.Twenty-four hours after the temblor struck, those trapped under rubble would have endured a night in sub-zero temperatures, adding to the pressure on rescuers looking for survivors in an area roughly the size of Cambodia.Temperatures in the high-altitude region dropped as low as minus 0 degrees Fahrenheit overnight.
People trapped or those without shelter are at risk of rapid hypothermia and may only be able to live for five to 10 hours even if uninjured, experts say.Footage broadcast on state television CCTV showed families huddled in rows of blue and green tents quickly erected by soldiers and aid workers in settlements surrounding the epicenter, where hundreds of aftershocks have been recorded.At least 126 people were known to have been killed and 188 injured on the Tibetan side, state broadcaster CCTV reported.No deaths have been reported in Nepal or elsewhere.The quake was so strong part of the terrain around the epicenter slipped as much as 5 feet 3 inches over a distance of 50 miles, according to an analysis by the United States Geological Survey.Chinese authorities have yet to announce how many people are still missing.
In Nepal, an official told Reuters the quake destroyed a school building in a village near Mount Everest, which straddles the Nepali-Tibetan border.No one was inside at the time.German climber Jost Kobusch said he was just above the Everest base camp on the Nepali side when the quake struck.
His t...