(TibetanReview.net, Oct23’26) – Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the executive head of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), has expressed fears Oct 23 that the casualty and damage from the powerful, 7.0-magnitude earthquake which shook northern Tibet’s Nagchu City in the night of Oct 22 could be greater than being reported by China’s state media, citing limited access to and information from the affected region.
Latest Chinese state media reports say the earthquake has killed 16 people and injured 76 others, some of them seriously, while over 339 buildings have been damaged or destroyed, with 12,489 residents evacuated.
Expressing deep sorrow and grave concern over the devastating earthquake, the Tibetan Sikyong cited information received from credible sources late in the night of Oct 22 as indicating severe destruction in Zasip (རྫ་སྲིབ།), Marru (དམར་རུ།), and Gangchen (གངས་ཅན།) Townships in Drachen County.
He said in a media statement that the reports also indicated that at least 20 people had lost their lives and the authorities were restricting Tibetan volunteers from entering the disaster zone to provide humanitarian assistance.
He also said that although initial concerns about the structural safety of a nearby dam had reportedly eased, a thorough assessment was still needed while the full extent of the disaster remained unknown.
“As nomadic families return to their winter residences, questions arise about the earthquake resistance of homes built under Chinese government-led resettlement programmes between 2012 and 2016,’ the statement said.
The statement called for the prioritisation of rescue and relief efforts, transparency and free communication with the outside world on the disaster, non-interference in religious rituals for the deceased, allowance of community-led assistance for the victims, and guarantee of independent humanitarian access.
He also called on China to establish transparent channels through which the CTA, exile Tibetans, religious institutions, and charitable organisations could support affected communities.