Relief teams in western China shifted their focus to resettling survivors after a search Wednesday for any remaining victims of a deadly earthquake that struck a day earlier near a holy city for Tibetan Buddhists.
Tents, quilts, stoves and other relief items were being delivered to people whose homes were uninhabitable or unsafe. State media said that more than 46,000 people had been relocated following the quake, which killed 126 and injured 188 others.
Tibetans, many of whom have fled persecution in China, held vigils for the victims in neighboring India and Nepal, both of which have sizeable communities.
More than 500 aftershocks were recorded after Tuesday’s earthquake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said measured magnitude 7.1. China’s earthquake center recorded a magnitude of 6.8.
The epicenter was about 75 kilometers (50 miles) from Mount Everest and the border with Nepal, where the shaking sent people running out of their homes. Earthquakes in China happen most frequently on the Tibetan Plateau or its fringes.
About 200 Tibetans lit candles and marched on the two main streets of Dharamshala, India, chanting prayers and carrying signs saying they stand with the victims and calling for aid to help them. The city in the hills of northern India is home to the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism’s highest figure. He fled Tibet in 1959 during an uprising against Chinese rule, which was seen as eroding the region’s Buddhist culture.
In the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, about 50 Tibetans chanted prayers at a Buddhist monastery. “We are praying for the souls of the so many people who lost their lives in Tibet because of the earthquake yesterday,” said Riya Tamang, who runs a shop.
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