CRI听力:Relief Rushing into Tibet as Quake Death Toll Rises to 25

The city and region of Xigaze, Tibet's second largest city, which is home to more than 700 thousand people, has been dramatically impacted by this weekend's massive quake in Nepal.

The counties of Gyirong, Nyalam and Tingri have seen nearly 80 percent of the houses collapse.

Highways in the counties have been blocked by multiple landslides.

But the focus of the relief efforts now is in the town of Zham, a border community linking Tibet in southwest China and Nepal.

Most of the buildings in the town have been deemed unsafe to live.

Over a dozen sections on the only highway into the town have been blocked.

People living in Zham have had to endure more than 20 aftershocks so far.

This has led to a number of landslides in the town, which lies on the southern slopes of the Tibetan plateau.

Zham is in urgent need of tents, drinking water, food and medicine for the 35 hundred people displaced by the quake.

15 residents were critically injured during Saturday's quake.

Food stocks in the city are only expected to last until Friday.

Emergency aid is being rushed into Tibet, with military helicopters dropping goods in Nyalam and Gyirong counties.

However, the relief efforts are being hindered by bad weather.

Yang Lei with the Chengdu Military Area Command in neighboring Sichuan says the topography of the region itself is also a major challenge.

"Our main challenge is the weather in this high-altitude region. We have to fly pass two key mountain passes, the Kunlun Pass and the Tanglha Pass -- both are at more than 5,000 meters above the sea level. The weather at these two passes is highly uNPRedictable, especially in the afternoon. We're also facing intermittent rain and snow these days in the northern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau."

Li Yigang with the National Earthquake Response Support Service says the rescue teams themselves also face particular challenges.

"First and foremost we have to face the lack of oxygen in the region, which will affect the rescuers' body condition and their work efficiency. Second, the highland areas are prone to geological disasters and we're already seeing key roads blocked, preventing the delivery of relief materials and personnel."

Despite the challenges, telecommunication in the quake-affected areas is being restored.

A total of 66 telecom base stations were damaged in the first earthquake. 29 of them have since been repaired.

Meanwhile, a delegation of central government officials representing different departments has arrived in Tibet to help coordinate the disaster relief efforts.

For CRI, I'm Qi Zhi.