At 9:05 am on January 7, Beijing time, a 6.8 - magnitude earthquake hit Dingri County, Xigaze City, Tibet, causing heavy casualties and extensive house collapses.

After the earthquake, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairperson of the Central Military Commission, attached great importance to the situation and gave important instructions, stating that the 6.8 - magnitude earthquake in Dingri County, Xigaze City, Tibet, had caused heavy casualties. It is necessary to go all out to search for and rescue people, treat the injured, minimize casualties, prevent secondary disasters, properly resettle the affected people, and handle follow - up work well. It is also required to strengthen earthquake monitoring and early warning, promptly allocate emergency rescue materials, rush to repair damaged infrastructure, arrange the basic living needs of the people, and ensure they can spend the winter safely and warmly.

Li Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Premier of the State Council, made instructions, stressing that it is necessary to quickly verify the disaster situation and casualties, go all out to organize rescue operations, strengthen earthquake monitoring, prevent all kinds of secondary disasters, and do the utmost to reduce casualties. As the earthquake - stricken area is located in the high - altitude and cold plateau region and it is winter, every effort should be made to ensure the basic living needs of the people in the disaster area and help them spend the winter warmly.

In accordance with the important instructions of Xi Jinping and the requirements of Li Qiang, Zhang Guoqing, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, led the leaders of relevant departments to rush to the scene to guide rescue and disposal work. The Office of the State Council Earthquake Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management activated the national third - level emergency response for earthquakes, and the Tibet Autonomous Region organized forces to go all out in rescue and disaster relief work and properly resettled the affected people. All aspects of earthquake relief work are being carried out in a tense and orderly manner.（Outlook New Era）