President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out rescue efforts to save lives and minimize casualties following a 6.8-magnitude devastating earthquake that struck a county in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region Tuesday morning.
In an instruction issued shortly after the powerful earthquake, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, ordered utmost efforts to treat the injured.
He also urged efforts to prevent possible secondary disasters, properly resettle the affected residents, and handle the aftermath work effectively.
It is essential to strengthen earthquake monitoring and early warning, promptly allocate emergency rescue supplies, expedite the repair of damaged infrastructure, ensure that the basic needs of residents are met, and guarantee a safe and warm winter for all, Xi said.
Premier Li Qiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, urged swift verification of the extent of the disaster and casualties.
He called for efforts to fully mobilize rescue and relief efforts, strengthen seismic monitoring, prevent possible secondary disasters and minimize casualties.
Noting the high-altitude and frigid winter conditions in the earthquake-stricken region, Li called for every possible effort to ensure basic living conditions and a warm winter for the affected residents. Responding to Xi's instructions and Li's directives, Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, has led officials from competent departments to the scene to guide follow-up rescue work.
The Office of the State Council Earthquake Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management also initiated level-III emergency responses for earthquakes on Tuesday.
The 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Dingri County in the city of Xigaze in Xizang Autonomous Region at 09:05 on Tuesday (Beijing Time), according to regional disaster relief headquarters.
The epicenter was monitored at 28.5 degrees north latitude and 87.45 degrees east longitude. The quake struck at a depth of 10 km, according to a report issued by the China Earthquake Networks Center.
The quake had killed 53 people and injured 62 others, as of 12:30 on Tuesday.
Xi orders all-out rescue efforts following heavy casualties in 6.8-magnitude Xizang quake
Xi orders all-out rescue efforts following heavy casualties in 6.8-magnitude Xizang quake
Xi orders all-out rescue efforts following heavy casualties in 6.8-magnitude Xizang quake
A total of 760 million cross-regional passenger trips are expected to be made across China during the Qingming Festival holiday, running from Friday to Sunday, the Ministry of Transport predicted.
The Qingming Festival, also known as the Tomb-Sweeping Day, is a traditional Chinese festival observed to honor ancestors by visiting their graves to clean the tombstones, offer sacrifices, and pay respects.
Travel demand is expected to be particularly high during this period, driven by family visits for tomb-sweeping rituals, as well as leisure travel and spring outings.
From Thursday to Monday, China's railways are projected to handle 84.5 million passenger trips, with an average of 16.9 million trips per day. The busiest day is expected to be Friday, the festival itself.
The railway authorities will maximize efforts to meet the surging demand by adding more train services, attaching extra carriages, and extending operating hours.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport forecast that an average of 59 million vehicles will travel on expressways each day during the holiday, a 1.1-percent increase over the same period last year.
Of this, new energy vehicles (NEVs) are expected to make up 18 percent of the total daily traffic, a 7-percentage-point rise from last year.
In anticipation of the increase, provinces like Fujian, Shandong, and Zhejiang have already conducted inspections of charging facilities to ensure smooth and efficient travel for NEV drivers.
The aviation sector is also seeing increased demand, especially for flights to popular flower-viewing destinations such as Wuxi and Huangshan in China, as well as international destinations like Japan and South Korea. This rise in demand has led to slight increases in airfare prices.
In southern China, water transportation is entering its peak season. The Qiongzhou Strait, which separates the island province of Hainan from Guangdong Province, is expected to see a surge in passenger and vehicle travel during the holiday.
Around 220,000 passenger trips and 58,000 vehicle trips are forecast, with the highest travel day expected on Friday, when about 85,000 passenger trips and 20,000 vehicle trips are expected to cross the strait.
"The total cross-regional passenger flow during the Qingming Festival holiday is expected to reach some 760 million trips, marking a year-on-year increase of about 3 percent. Travel in key regions, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Chengdu-Chongqing region, will account for nearly 50 percent of the national total. We are strengthening information sharing among different transportation modes, enhancing the coordination of railway, highway, and air transport services, and actively promoting intermodal passenger transportation," said Gao Bo, deputy director of the transport services department at the Ministry of Transport.
China expects 760 mln cross-regional trips during Qingming Festival holiday
