(TibetanReview.net, Mar05’25) – The devastating earthquake which shook Tibet’s Mt Everest county of Dingri and several other neighbouring counties on Jan 7 morning, killing at least 126 people, and displacing 120,000, and damaging to varying degrees nearly 80 schools, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency Mar 5. This is the first time China has reported about schools having been damaged and their number as a result of the earthquake.
The report said that thousands of children were able to return to class to start the new semester, as builders raced against time in conducting reconstruction work.
Students from the 79 schools affected with various degrees of damage as a result of the earthquake resumed classes as scheduled on Mar 5, together with all other students in the city of Xigaze (Shigatse). The report further said that 76 of these schools now meet safety standards after being repaired and reinforced.
A trio of primary schools in three severely-shattered townships in Dingri require complete reconstruction. These schools transferred 1,479 students to four other sites for the start of the new semester this week, the report added.
Meanwhile, on Mar 3, the reconstruction of eight villages severely affected by the earthquake was launched, marking the start of a recovery effort aimed at relocating over 120,000 residents to new homes by the end of this year, the report said. China previously kept reporting that a total of 31,500 people had been displaced by the earthquake.
The report said a launch ceremony for the reconstruction was held at Gurum Village of Dingri county.