Stranded cope after fatal Chinese quake

BEIJING — Stranded tourists and residents worked Wednesday to clear roads and make do with power failures caused by an earthquake that killed at least 19 people and injured 247.

The magnitude-6.5 quake struck a mountainous Chinese region near a national park known for waterfalls and karst formations. Rescuers dug through rubble with their hands and used detectors to search for signs of life. The Tuesday night quake knocked out power and phone networks, complicating efforts to locate and evacuate survivors.

Most of the deaths and injuries were recorded in Zhangzha township, near the Jiuzhaigou national park, also known as Jiuzhai Valley.

President Xi Jinping called for rapid efforts to respond to the disaster, which struck a quake-prone region bordered by Sichuan and Gansu provinces. The area is on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau and home to many Tibetan and other ethnic-minority villages.

Among the injured, 40 people were listed in serious condition, according to the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture government in Sichuan. At least five of the dead were tourists, China’s Xinhua News Agency said.

Among the injured were a Canadian woman, who suffered a slight head injury, and a French citizen, who suffered wounds in both legs and needed surgery to remove stone fragments, according to Xinhua.

AP/CHINATOPIX A paramilitary policeman on Wednesday carries a woman over a road damaged by an earthquake in Jiuzhaigou county in southwestern China’s Sichuan province.