Quake strikes in rural China

TOLL EXPECTED TO CLIMB IN REMOTE AREA Tuesday’s 6.5-magnitude event in Sichuan mountains leaves many injured.

At least nine people were killed when a 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern China, state media said yesterday, but the toll was expected to climb as news trickles out of the remote mountainous region.

The earthquake occurred late on Tuesday, killing nine and leaving 164 injured, Xinhua news agency said, quoting the Sichuan provincial government.

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

Initial images emerging from the quake zone showed paramilitary police searching through rubble for survivors. Elsewhere, stunned people were seen milling about on debris-strewn streets, fearful of going back inside in case of aftershocks.

At least one aftershock, measured at 4.2 magnitude by the US Geological Survey (USGS), hit the region shortly after the main quake.

Early yesterday, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook northwest China’s Xinjiang region, thousands of kilometres from Sichuan, according to the USGS.

It struck at around 7.30am and was followed by two aftershocks of 5.2 and 5.3 magnitude, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the remote area.

The Sichuan event was centred near Jiuzhaigou, a valley designated as a national park and Unesco World Heritage Site and which is famed for its striking scenery, karst rock formations, waterfalls and lakes.

Xinhua said at least five of the deaths occurred in Jiuzhaigou, adding that more than 34 000 people were visiting the popular tourist site at the time.

It said 31 500 tourists had been relocated to safety.

The National Commission for Disaster Reduction estimated that more than 130 000 houses may have been damaged, based on a preliminary analysis of the disaster in Sichuan province.

President Xi Jinping called for “all-out efforts to rapidly organise relief work and rescue the injured people”, according to Xinhua.

Restaurant owner Tang Sesheng fled her establishment in Jiuzhaigou after she felt the earth moving under her. “I was also in Jiuzhaigou in 2008 during the last big quake, so I knew what it was. This felt even stronger,” she said.

Tuesday’s quake occurred in the same region as a massive 8.0-magnitude earthquake that struck in 2008, leaving 87 000 people dead or missing.

The Jiuzhaigou quake’s epicentre was 284km north of the provincial capital Chengdu – where the earthquake was reportedly felt – and struck at a depth of 10km, the USGS said. – AFP