Over 100 people have been killed and over 2000 injured when an earthquake of 7.0-magnitude hit southwest China’s Sichuan province today.
Beiing, April 20/Nationalturk – An earthquake of 7.0-magnitude hit southwest China’s Sichuan province early Saturday, killing over 100 people and injuring over 2000.
“The earthquake hit Lushan county of Ya’an City in Sichun province in China at 0802 hours local times today,” China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) said.
It said earthquake’s epicenter, with a depth of 13 km, was monitored at 30.3 degrees north latitude and 103.0 degrees east longitude.
The quake was strongly felt by residents in Sichuan’s capital city of Chengdu, which is about 140 kilometers from Ya’an. Ya’an has a population of 1.53 million and is known as the hometown of the giant panda.
Media reports said the earthquake destroyed hundreds of residential houses, rendering hundreds of people homeless. Authorities said more than 2000 people were injured in the earthquake and about 10000 houses destroyed fully or partially.
According to officials, over 100 people have died in the earthquake. They said they feared that the death toll may go up as many people have been injured critically.
A resident in Chengdu, who was on the 13th floor of a building when the quake occurred, said he felt the building shaking for about 20 seconds and he saw tiles fall off nearby buildings.
The quake was also felt in provinces of Guizhou, Gansu, Shaanxi and Yunnan.
People of the affected areas ventured out of their homes and spent some time in open. They returned to their homes after normalcy was restored.
According to media reports, hundreds of low intensity aftershocks were also felt in the area. “A total of 264 aftershocks had been monitored as of 12 p.m., two of which were above5.0-magnitude,” according to the CENC.
Chinese authorities have deployed more than 6000 military and armed police men and dispatched several aircraft to the affected area in Sichuan Province to help the rescue and relief efforts.
51 rescued from collapsed structure
China’s Ministry of Public Security has said firefighters have rescued 51 people from collapsed structures, including 49 survivors this afternoon.
Among the survivors was a pregnant woman and two children.
It said about 1,500 people have been evacuated to safer places.
Meanwhile, according to Xinhua, official news agency of China, military vehicle carrying 17 soldiers en route to the quake-hit area in southwest China’s Sichuan province plummeted off a cliff around Saturday noon, killing a soldier.
The driver of the vehicle lost control on a winding road in Ya’an, Sichuan, at about 1240 hours.
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Faiz Ahmad / NationalTurk China News
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