Widespread damage after earthquake

JIUZHAIGOU: The magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Jiuzhaigou county, Sichuan province, led to financial losses in excess of 110 million yuan (RM70mil) in neighbouring Pingwu county.

The earthquake on Tuesday also left victims and damage in other neighbouring areas, authorities said on Sunday.

Twenty-five people died as a result of the earthquake in Jiuzhaigou, and 525 people were injured.

The earthquake damaged roads, houses, crops, forests, telecommunication and power facilities and factories in 11 townships in Pingwu, a neighbouring county in Mianyang, Sichuan, and the economic losses in Pingwu surpassed 110 million yuan, according to the Sichuan provincial government information office.

The earthquake put 259 cellphone towers in Pingwu, Songpan, Zoige and Hongyuan counties out of service.

A total of 1,079 workers were involved in the emergency repair works.

As of Sunday morning, 238 towers had resumed operation, the office said. The earthquake jolted Jiuzhaigou on Tuesday.

More than 3,000 aftershocks, with the strongest being magnitude 4.8, had taken place by Sunday.

On Tuesday night, President Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to organise relief work and rescue the injured.

He said that authorities should assess the impact of the earthquake, evacuate and settle visitors and local people, and reduce the deaths and injuries as much as possible.

About 60,000 tourists and migrant workers had been evacuated from the quake’s epicentre by 5pm the next day.

The evacuation was swift and efficient through the efforts of the government and people of different ethnic groups in the region, according to the office.