Xi orders all-out rescue efforts following heavy casualties in 6.8-magnitude Xizang quake

This frame grab from a user-generated content (UGC) video on January 7, 2025 shows cracks on the walls of a restaurant in Lhatse County in China's Tibet after an earthquake struck the area.[AFP,Standard]

President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out rescue efforts to save lives and minimize casualties following a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that took a heavy toll after jolting a county in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region Tuesday morning.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made an important instruction, demanding utmost efforts to carry out search and rescue and provide medical treatment for the injured.