Soldiers and rescue workers hiked in lashing rain to isolated Himalayan villages yesterday in search of survivors after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake killed at least 63 people in India, Nepal and China’s Tibetan Autonomous Region.
Rescuers workers pulled victims from rubble as the number of casualties climbed to 31 in the “Shangri-la” northeastern Indian state of Sikkim, the epicenter of Sunday night’s quake felt more than 800km away in New Delhi.
Thick cloud prevented helicopters from flying over the affected areas, home to some of the world’s highest peaks, but some mountain passes blocked by landslides were reopened, police helping rescue efforts said.
“The earthquake has loosened the hill-faces, and when it rains, it causes landslides. So the situation is still very dangerous,” said Deepak Pandey, spokesman for the Indo-Tibetan Border police.
“We have rescued more than 400 people since last night,” including from the worst hit area Pegong in the north, Pandey said.
It may take days for the final number of casualties to be -confirmed, but border police said they did not think the death toll would be on a massive scale.
At least two died in Bihar State, south of Sikkim, while six died in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Television pictures showed people in Sikkim’s main city, Gangtok, sitting on roadsides under umbrellas in the heavy rain — reluctant to go inside their homes for fear of aftershocks.
“People are still panicky,” Gangtok resident Pawan Thapa told reporters by telephone after the quake that shook buildings for more than a minute. “We spent the whole night outside our homes.”
It has been raining for four straight days in parts of Sikkim. The temperature in the quake zone was about 8°C and could drop overnight.
“Let’s pray that the weather gets better,” army spokesman Om Singh said.
Shops, businesses and offices were closed in Gangtok and neighboring areas, the resident said. Many towns remained without electricity. Water supplies were scarce because of burst pipes and telephone communication was patchy.
THREATS: Naval facilities have been built in Shanghai and Zhejiang, while airbases have been expanded in Xiamen, Fuzhou and Zhangpu, across the Strait from Taiwan The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is building large-scale military infrastructure at five sites along the eastern coast of China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a recent report. The latest issue of the council’s Mainland China Situation Quarterly said satellite photos showed military infrastructure such as air force and naval bases being constructed along the eastern coast of China. That means the CCP might be preparing for potential conflict in Taiwan, it said, adding that there are five such construction sites from north to south. A naval base has been built in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, with underground oil storage tanks, railway
MILESTONE: The foreign minister called the signing ‘a major step forward in US-Taiwan relations,’ while the Presidential Office said it was a symbol of the nations’ shared values US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the state department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct a review “not less than every five years.” It must then submit an updated report based on its findings “not later
A trial run of the north concourse of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s new Terminal 3 is to commence today, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The eight additional boarding gates would allow for more aircraft parking spaces that are expected to boost the airport’s capacity by 5.8 million passengers annually, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Kuo-shian (林國顯) said. The concourse, designed by a team led by British architect Richard Rogers, provides a refreshing space, Lin said, adding that travelers would enjoy the tall and transparent design that allows sunshine to stream into the concourse through glass curtain walls. The
The Presidential Office today thanked the US for enacting the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law, signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday, is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct such a review "not less than every five years." It must then submit an updated
RSS