(TibetanReview.net, Sep10’22) – A total of 88 people have now been confirmed dead while 30 still remain missing after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Luding (Tibetan: Chagsam) county in eastern Tibet, which is now part of China’s Sichuan province, on Sep 5, according to China’s official Xinhua news Agency Sep 9.
The report cited rescue headquarters as saying those confirmed dead included 50 in Luding county, Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture, with the remaining 38 being from Shimian county in the neighbouring Chinese city of Ya’an.
The report further said that 30 people were still missing and more than 400 were injured, with 11 in critical condition and 38 in serious condition.
Luding, though historically a Tibetan territory, is now overwhelmingly Chinese populated. The county has a total population of 86,234 as of 2022, with Han Chinese constituting 78.2% therefore and Tibetans making up just 16%, according to a Luding County People’s Government report in Chinese, available on its luding.gov.cn website. And the Yi ethnic group from China make up 4.8% of the county’s population.