This content was first published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
According to sources in the area, the current earthquake, which struck at least eight Buddhist temples and churches in southeastern Tibet, have suffered severe damage.
Tibetan state media reports that 126 people died as a result of the earthquake that hit Tibet’s Dingri and Lhatse regions on January 7 and damaged hundreds of structures, according to Tibetan state media.
According to the sources, an estimated 40 temples and places of worship, some of which were more than 500 years older, suffered varying levels of injury.
They include the Dzekar Choede, Tsonga, Tsogo, Gonta-phuk, Choelung, Dhakphuk, Tashi Zomrung and Choeling monks.
Three Tibetans who lived in exile and two local sources who were close to Dingri county’s first three ancient monasteries, according to two local sources.
According to one source, “most of the important figures inside the temples have been destroyed in Dewachan Monastery in Chulho and Dzekar Choede Monastery in Dramtso, with considerable damage to the monks ‘ council halls and the three major Buddha figures.”
According to Chinese state media, the Dzekar Choede Monastery is a 15th-century structure that houses numerous divine Buddhist treasures that have since been given to Dingri county officers.
Total extent unknown
The extent of the damage to religious centers in Tingye, Lhatse, and Sakya regions is unfamiliar, the sources said, adding that China is still censoring any communication of information about the disaster.
” Most of the priests ‘ apartments have even collapsed, and painfully, two sisters from Dzongtuk Nunnery have died”, the next source said. One of the sisters was buried beneath the dust of the collapsed structures, and despite attempts, she perished.
A Tibetan cause in exile claimed that more than half of the Choeling Monastery’s Mangbhu township’s shrine had been destroyed.
Additionally, he resource reported that some smaller monasteries on the hillsides of Dingri and Lhatse counties have suffered damage. ” In many cases, these temples have been completely destroyed”.
According to Chinese state media, a nearby social traditions group has inspected the destruction to religious centers in Sakya, Lhatse, Tingye and Dingri counties.
By Jan. 12, the group completed audits in Lhatse and Dingri regions. The state agency that oversees the safety and protection of historical treasures on the continent of China, the National Cultural Heritage Administration, or NCHA, will receive its results.
The” first batch of national key cultural heritage units” had” no obvious damage,” according to the NCHA, which included Pelkor Choede Monastery ( Baiju Temple ) and Shalu Monastery ( Xialu Temple ).
There were” no significant structural risks” found at Sakya Monastery despite “repairable damage such as component displacement and wall cracking,” according to the agency.
Crackdown on online posts
Tibetans have been punished by Chinese authorities for sharing information about the natural disaster online after the earthquake.
On Wednesday, state media said authorities “investigated and punished” 21 Tibetans for allegedly “posting false information” on the death toll.
Sources earlier told RFA that Chinese authorities forbade people from posting information about the earthquake online and were removing related videos and information from social media.
Three of the 21 were punished for reporting a death toll of more than 200 in earthquake-hit regions, with one Tibetan citing a figure of 265 among others.
The Chinese government has not changed , the official death toll it issued on Jan. 8, the day after the quake.
One of Dingri county’s three worst-hit townships recorded around 100 deaths alone, which raises further questions about the official count, according to sources in the area who previously told RFA.
The Chinese government’s Public Information Network Security Supervision Department under the Ministry of Public Security on Wednesday said it would continue to crack down on “online rumors related to the Shigatse earthquake” and on any “fabrication, dissemination, and spread of online rumors”.
