(TibetanReview.net, Mar02’25) – China said Jan 9, and maintained throughout since then, that a total of 61,500 people were affected by the devastating earthquake which shook Tibet’s Mt Everest county of Dingri and several other counties on Jan 7 morning, killing 126 people. Now, all of a sudden, it says the more than 120,000 people living in temporary shelters as a result of the earthquake will be relocated to new homes by the end of 2025.
China’s latest state media report on the earthquake also said that as of Jan 13 noon, 407 had been rescued, over 47,500 individuals relocated, and over 27,200 houses damaged, of which 3,612 had collapsed.
But now, as Tibetans celebrated their Wood-Snake Year Losar (New Year) of their Royal Year 2152, China’s official Xinhua news agency said Feb 28 that “all of the more than 120,000 people living in temporary shelters will be relocated to new homes by the end of 2025,” citing reconstruction plans.
From Lhasa, the regional capital, to the earthquake-impacted villages of Dingri County, families gathered for the festival, brimming with new hopes and expectations for the year ahead, the report said. It spoke of workers from China Communications Road and Bridge North Engineering Co., Ltd. being busy constructing a reconstruction command centre.
The reconstruction is expected to begin in March and April, with the first six villages scheduled to start soon, the report said, possibly suggesting that whole villages were wiped out.
The true extent of the devastation caused by the Dingri earthquake remains unknown as China strictly enforced a ban on access to the affected areas even to relief and humanitarian aid providers who were compelled to hand over their donations to state functionaries and tightly censored information about it.
Meanwhile, the Mount Qomolangma (Everest) scenic area, which China closed after the earthquake, reopened to the public on Mar 1, reported Xinhua Mar 1. No obvious icefalls, avalanches or geological changes have been observed on the world’s highest peak as a result of the earthquake, the report said.
Also, in his Losar greetings, the Chinese government-appointed 11th Panchen Lama Gyaincain Norbu expressed satisfaction with the developmental trends in Tibet under Chinese rule, speaking about his months-long tour of the territory last year, including on the Sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism.