Yushu Earthquake

Background

Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is a high-altitude (much being above 4000 metres) prefecture at the north-east of the Tibetan Plateau. The prefecture is large (approx 75,000 square miles) with a low population. Yushu Town (33.0044N, 97.0087E)– site of the earthquake – is the only major town in the Prefecture. Though outside the “Tibetan Autonomous Region” (TAR), it is an area with a high proportion of ethnic Tibetan people.

Figure 1 - Map showing Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (yellow hashed) in Qinghai Province, China.

Eastern Yushu Prefecture comprises flat grassland bisected by mountain ranges and deep river valleys. The Prefecture is source of the Yangtze, Yellow and Mekong Rivers.
Yushu Town is the Prefectural capital and the only real town of the region. Situated at the confluence of two rivers, it comprises several densely packed river valleys surrounded by high hills. The urban area comprises the base of the valleys, with hillsides largely un-developed. Though there are a number of prominent concrete and brick buildings, most individual houses are of mud-brick construction.

Figure 2 Modern part of Yushu Town seen from the North looking East (2004)

Yushu is served by an airport (opened 2009) at approximately 50 kilometres from Yushu Town. The condition of the airport and access roads is not known. 
By land, Yushu is a long-day’s drive from Xining (the capital of Qinghai Province – approximately 1000km distant), with secondary and considerably longer routes to Sichuan and the TAR. However being “up” on the high-plateau, the road is relatively flat thus damage is likely to have been confined to bridges.
Yushu Town is known also known as Gyêgu and Jyekundo in Tibetan. The region is sometimes referred to as Nangchen. Spelling and pronunciation variants exist for both: Jiegu for Gyegu, Yuxu for Yushu etc.

Current Situation

On the morning of 14. April 2010 a strong earthquake struck Yushu Town. Mobile telephone networks remained functional, and we were able to speak to one of our members of staff in Yushu.

• Almost all the mud buildings (ie family homes) have collapsed.
• The residents have self-evacuated to the “horse-ground” (a large expanse of flat-open ground west of the town).
• Everybody has lost someone from their extended family. At the moment there is chaos as people are just trying to find out what has happened to their loved-ones.
• Five buildings have collapsed at the Normal School, and many children are believed to have been trapped inside [Children attending school frequently board due to the distances involved].
• People are sleeping in the street despite sub-zero temperatures
• Jinpa's office is too damaged to enter

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