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Quake Kills Dozens in China, and Hundreds Are Injured Strong, Deadly Quake in China Evokes Bitter Memories of 2008
(about 2 hours later)
CHENGDU, China — A powerful earthquake rocked China’s southwestern Sichuan Province on Saturday morning, killing at least 132 people, injuring more than 5,500 and leaving unknown numbers of people trapped, according to the state media. QIONGLAI, China — The earthquake that shook Sichuan Province on Saturday struck at 8 a.m., when people were rising a little later than usual, and when schools and universities were closed.
The earthquake, which struck at 8:02 a.m. local time in Ya’an city, occurred on the same fault line and about 53 miles from the epicenter of a devastating 2008 quake that left 87,000 people dead or missing in a mountainous region northeast of Chengdu, the provincial capital. “We were just getting up and getting dressed in our dormitory when the building shook and I looked outside from our seventh-floor window and saw a row of houses collapsed,” said Xu Yan, 22, a student at the Agricultural University in Ya’an City, in a telephone interview. “I have never flown down the stairs so fast.”
In one hard-hit township, Longmen, one resident reported that 90 percent of the homes had been destroyed, suggesting that the death toll could rise much higher. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs, which has a role in disaster relief, said on its Web site that as of 9 p.m. Beijing time, the known death toll from the earthquake in Sichuan Province was 157, with most of the dead in Ya’an. The ministry also said that about 5,700 people had been injured.
The Chengdu Evening News, a newspaper, said 600 people had been injured, 135 of them seriously, in Lushan County, which is part of the city of Ya’an. Xinhua, the state news agency, quoted a hospital official who said scores of injured people were sprawled in front of the county hospital on Saturday afternoon. Firefighters in Lushan pulled 27 survivors from collapsed buildings, Xinhua said. A reporter from the daily newspaper in Ya’an said on China’s Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like service, that residents in Lushan County, which is part of the greater Ya’an area, needed tents, blankets, bottled water, food and medicine.
Premier Li Keqiang and several other senior officials from Beijing flew to Sichuan on Saturday afternoon, according to the state media. “The current most urgent issue is grasping the first 24 hours after the quake’s occurrence, the golden time for saving lives, to take scientific rescue measures and save people’s lives,” Xinhua quoted Mr. Li as saying. He took a helicopter to Lushan County, and he went to the county’s main hospital to visit the injured, according to Sichuan media. The Ministry of Civil Affairs said that it had gathered more than 60,000 tents for residents unable to return to their homes, but that they would not reach the area until Sunday. Ya’an, which sits on a basin on the edge of the Tibetan plateau, has a population of 1.5 million.
The China Earthquake Networks Center said the quake had a magnitude of 7.0, and occurred six miles underground. Because it was relatively shallow, the quake was more destructive, scientists said. For residents of Lushan County, the epicenter of Saturday’s earthquake, the events evoked eerie memories of a devastating earthquake almost five years ago in May 2008 when more than 70,000 people were killed in Chengdu, about 70 miles east of Lushan.
“Now the houses on both sides of the street have become dangerous buildings,” a resident, Zhang Linpeng, told the Sichuan news service. “I’ve seen people trapped in the ruins, and some people died. Many of the injured have been pulled out.” Saturday’s quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0, according to the Chinese authorities. The United States Geological Survey said that the earthquake occurred on the Longmenshan fault line, the same one responsible for the 7.9 magnitude quake in 2008. But more than 12 hours after the initial temblor, the impact seemed to be far less severe.
Chinese radio quoted an unnamed official saying, “We have a basic grasp of the overall disaster situation, and there won’t be thousands or tens of thousands of fatalities.”
Even so, Prime Minister Li Keqiang, probably mindful of the widespread criticism of the rescue efforts in 2008, flew to Lushan County and visited local hospitals.
“The current most urgent issue is grasping the first 24 hours after the quake’s occurrence, the golden time for saving lives, to take scientific rescue measures and save people’s lives,” Xinhua, the state news agency, quoted Mr. Li as saying.
More than 7,000 soldiers and armed police personnel were sent to the region, and the authorities also sent 1,400 provincial rescue workers, 180 doctors from a national emergency response team, 120 “professional rescue vehicles” and 6 search-and-rescue dogs. Volunteers were also mobilized from other parts of the country, and as a precaution, 80,000 inmates were evacuated from prisons in the affected area.
Rescue efforts were hampered by landslides, and officials expressed concern over two barrier lakes that had formed after debris blocked two waterways.Rescue efforts were hampered by landslides, and officials expressed concern over two barrier lakes that had formed after debris blocked two waterways.
Xinhua said one soldier had been killed and seven injured after the truck they were riding in plunged into a river. Photographs taken on the highway to Ya’an showed an enormous boulder blocking the way. The tremors were felt in Chengdu, one of China’s biggest cities and the capital of Sichuan Province. Residents described water spilling out of home aquariums and big objects, like home water dispensers, falling to the floor.
According to the state media, more than 7,400 soldiers and armed police officers and two helicopters had been sent to the quake zone. The authorities also sent 1,400 provincial rescue workers, 180 doctors from a national emergency response team, 120 “professional rescue vehicles” and 6 search-and-rescue dogs. As a precaution, 80,000 inmates were evacuated from prisons in the affected area. Yang Yubing, an executive at a sculpture factory in Baoxing County, one of the hardest-hit areas, said he was visiting Chengdu, when he felt the tremors. He immediately left on a seven-hour drive to his home in Baoxing.
A reporter from the daily newspaper in Ya’an said on China’s Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like service, that residents in Lushan County needed tents, blankets, bottled water, food and medicine. But emergency workers stopped him when he got close to his apartment, Mr. Yang said. “They said five or six kilometers of roads were collapsed,” he said in a telephone interview. “We are all living in temporary tents in the school.” Badly injured people were transported to hospitals by helicopter, he said.
Ya’an, which sits on a basin on the edge of the Tibetan plateau, is about 75 miles from Chengdu. The city has a population of 1.5 million. In the town of Longmen, another hard-hit area, a resident, Zhang Yen, said 90 percent of the buildings had collapsed.
The quake occurred along a seismically active fault line, known as Longmenshan, that runs between the Tibetan plateau and Sichuan Basin, scientists said. Twelve earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.0 or greater had occurred along the Longmenshan fault line since 1900, said Jiang Haikun, an official with the China Earthquake Administration. “About 100 people died around here,” Ms. Zhang said in a telephone interview. “Rescue crews have not yet arrived. There is no water or electricity.”
The quake struck almost exactly five years since the calamitous Wenchuan quake, a disaster that raised questions about poorly constructed schools that collapsed and killed thousands of students. Xinhua quoted a hospital official who said scores of injured people were sprawled in front of the county hospital on Saturday afternoon. Firefighters in Lushan pulled 27 survivors from collapsed buildings, Xinhua said.
The 2008 quake raised questions about poorly constructed schools that collapsed and killed thousands of students.
That earthquake prompted an extensive official relief effort, and a passionate outpouring of volunteer help. But some quake-stricken residents and observers faulted the government for sending rescue efforts to the wrong places, or failing to muster the equipment needed to lift victims from under slabs of concrete and brick. Instead, many troops and rescuers clambered over the rubble with sticks and spades.That earthquake prompted an extensive official relief effort, and a passionate outpouring of volunteer help. But some quake-stricken residents and observers faulted the government for sending rescue efforts to the wrong places, or failing to muster the equipment needed to lift victims from under slabs of concrete and brick. Instead, many troops and rescuers clambered over the rubble with sticks and spades.
This time, the government appears intent on avoiding any accusations of laggardness, even if the quake was less destructive than the one in 2008. In one notable gesture, CCTV, the state broadcaster, posted photographs online of Mr. Li and other senior leaders sitting on a plane bound for Sichuan. State media also said Mr. Li and President Xi Jinping had convened an emergency meeting earlier in the day to coordinate rescue efforts. This time, the government appears intent on avoiding any accusations of laggardness, even if the quake was less destructive than the one in 2008. In one notable gesture, CCTV, the state broadcaster, posted photographs online of Mr. Li and other senior leaders sitting on a plane bound for Sichuan. State news media also said Mr. Li and President Xi Jinping had convened an emergency meeting earlier in the day to coordinate rescue efforts.
In 2008, officials restricted independent reporting on the disaster, but Ran Wang, a businessman, said he hoped officials would allow greater transparency this time. “No censorship, no cover-ups or control so the right of the people and society to be informed during natural disasters is respected,” he wrote on his microblog account.In 2008, officials restricted independent reporting on the disaster, but Ran Wang, a businessman, said he hoped officials would allow greater transparency this time. “No censorship, no cover-ups or control so the right of the people and society to be informed during natural disasters is respected,” he wrote on his microblog account.
The quake was powerful enough to be felt hundreds of miles away in Yunnan, Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces. In Chongqing, 200 miles from the epicenter, residents raced down the stairwells of apartment buildings and stood in the streets in their pajamas. The Longmenshan fault line, which runs between the Tibetan plateau and Sichuan Basin, is seismically active. Twelve earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.0 or greater have occurred along the fault line since 1900, said Jiang Haikun, an official with the China Earthquake Administration.
As of midday, the number of aftershocks exceeded 200, with 15 of them greater than a magnitude of 4.0. Sichuan Province is also one of China’s best-known habitats for pandas, and at the Bifengxia Scenic Reserve, about six miles north of Ya’an City, workers said that 20 pandas in the park were safe. “We inspected the panda area after the quake, and they were unaffected,” said Chen Yong, the media relations officer of the reserve.

Chris Buckley contributed reporting from Hong Kong.

Andrew Jacobs contributed reporting from Beijing, and Chris Buckley from Hong Kong. Patrick Zhou contributed research from Qionglai, and Bree Feng from Beijing.