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Two dead in China earthquake Four dead in China earthquake
(about 5 hours later)
A strong earthquake struck a lightly populated, mountainous area of western China, killing at least two people, injuring 54 others and collapsing homes, officials said on Sunday. A strong earthquake that hit a sparsely populated, mountainous area of western China killed at least four people and injured 54 others, including schoolchildren in a stampede, officials said Sunday.
The US Geological Survey said the magnitude-5.9 quake hit Saturday about 20 miles from the town of Kangding in Sichuan province. China’s seismological agency put the magnitude at 6.3. The US Geological Survey said the magnitude-5.9 quake hit Saturday about 20 miles from the county of Kangding in Sichuan province. China’s seismological agency put the magnitude at 6.3.
The Sichuan provincial government information office said on its microblog Sunday that the death toll had risen to two with 54 injured. The four dead included a woman in her 70s who was struck by a falling window pane, the official Xinhua news agency and state broadcaster CCTV said, citing Chen Yunbing, a doctor at the region’s Ganzi People’s hospital.
The dead included a woman in her 70s who was struck by a falling window pane, the official Xinhua News Agency and state broadcaster CCTV said, citing Chen Yunbing, a doctor at the region’s Ganzi People’s Hospital. A stampede at a primary school in Tagong town during the quake injured 42 children, according to Xinhua.
A duty officer at the Kangding county government, who gave his surname as Xia, said the quake lasted only a few seconds, and that there had been some reports of cracks in buildings and toppled walls. The area is frequently struck by earthquakes, and Xia said newly constructed buildings in the town of Kangding must be able to withstand those of up to 8 in magnitude, although requirements are less strict in the surrounding rural area. A total of 30 homes collapsed and 2,630 suffered serious damage, the Sichuan information office said.
Along with the two collapsed homes, Kangding’s regional airport sustained some damage, though flights were not disrupted, Xinhua said.
Wang Dan, a spokeswoman for the government of Ganzi prefecture, which includes Kangding county, said rescue teams had been dispatched to the epicenter.
Xinhua said workers were restoring the electricity supply to Tagong, the town closest to the epicenter, where a statue of Buddha in a local temple was also damaged. About 100 vehicles were trapped by a landslide on a highway connecting Sichuan and Tibet, and railway service was also halted in the area while workers checked on damage to the line, Xinhua said.
No major damage was reported in the town of Kangding, where CCTV video showed residents strolling the town’s streets, looking up at the steep surrounding hillsides and talking on their cellphones.
Kangding and the surrounding county have a population of 129,320 people, about 70 percent of them Tibetan.
Western China is regularly hit by earthquakes, and reports said Saturday’s quake could be felt in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu on the plains below the Himalayan foothills. Sichuan was struck by a magnitude-7.9 quake in May 2008 that left nearly 90,000 people dead, many of them in collapsed schools and other poorly constructed buildings.Western China is regularly hit by earthquakes, and reports said Saturday’s quake could be felt in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu on the plains below the Himalayan foothills. Sichuan was struck by a magnitude-7.9 quake in May 2008 that left nearly 90,000 people dead, many of them in collapsed schools and other poorly constructed buildings.
Construction standards have been significantly tightened since then, and the country’s disaster response capacity has improved with better equipment and trained rescue teams.Construction standards have been significantly tightened since then, and the country’s disaster response capacity has improved with better equipment and trained rescue teams.