High toll feared as quake strikes China’s Sichuan

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake rattled southwest China on Tuesday, killing at least five people, with up to 100 feared dead, according to a government estimate.

Five people died and more than 60 were injured in the quake, the official Xinhua news agency said, including 30 who were in critical condition.

But China’s National Commission for Disaster Reduction estimated that as many as 100 people may have perished, based on 2010 census data of the mountainous, sparsely populated region.

The quake occurred not far from the site of a massive 8.0-magnitude earthquake that struck in 2008 leaving 87,000 people dead or missing.

Its epicentre was 284 km north of the provincial capital Chengdu and struck at a depth of 10 km, the US Geological Survey said.

The affected region, Jiuzhaigou county, includes one of the country’s most famous national parks, a Unesco World Heritage Site known for karst formations and lakes.

More than 38,000 people visited the tourist site on Tuesday, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Some houses at the scenic spot collapsed following the quake and authorities were organising young people to help evacuate

residents, a staff worker at the park told Xinhua.

Photos from the area posted to social media showed masses of people milling about on streets scattered with light debris, and a taxi dented from being hit by a large boulder.

Over 600 fire officers and soldiers have been deployed, the People’s Daily newspaper said.