(TibetanReview.net, Nov24’25) – It is now official: the 7.1-magnitude earthquake which devastated Tibet’s Mt Everest County of Dingri on Jan 7 this year affected 486 villages in seven counties, Shigatse City. China’s official Xinhua cited these figures while reporting Nov 24 that more than 32,500 destroyed or damaged houses have been restored and handed over to affected residents.
The restoration work covered 486 villages in seven counties, resulting in the reconstruction of more than 22,000 houses and the reinforcement of an additional 10,500 homes, the report said.
The report showed pictures of some of those villages in two counties, namely Duoma Village in Lhatse County and Zimgag Village of Chamco Township, Cuoang and Remuqing Villages of Qulho Township, Gyabug Village, Yejiang Village, Qaba Village, and Chagnag Village, all in Dingri County.
All the houses in Yejiang Village are seen prominently flying the Red Star flag of the Chinese Communist Party-state.
The report did not name the remaining five counties.
The report also did not say anything about the religious centres that were previously stated to have been damaged or destroyed by the earthquake.
China’s official count of deaths from the devastating earthquake stands at 126. while independent media reports have stated findings of up to more than 400.
China did report damages to dams, including the evacuation of 1,500 residents across six villages overlooking the dams.
Chinese authorities had totally blocked access to the earthquake-hit sites and strictly censored information about the disaster, including fatalities, damage and destruction. The full scale and extent of the destruction therefore still remains unknown.