Beijing, Jun 18:
At least 13 people were killed and nearly 200 others injured after two strong earthquakes hit China’s southwest Sichuan province, with authorities on Tuesday intensifying rescue efforts to pull survivors from the rubble. The first 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook Changning county of Yibin city at 10:55 PM on Monday (local time). According to the China Earthquake Centre (CENC), the second tremor of 5.3-magnitude hit the area on Tuesday. It was followed by several powerful aftershocks. Thirteen people have been killed and 199 others were injured, the Ministry of Emergency Management said. Rescue efforts were underway. President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out efforts to carry out relief work and rescue the injured. Xi, also general secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission ordered authorities to give priority to rescuing those injured, and minimise casualties. The epicentre of Monday’s quake was recorded at a depth of 16 km. Th National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration have dispatched 5,000 tents, 10,000 folding beds and 20,000 quilts to the areas affected by the quakes.
The 6.0-magnitude quake had affected a total of 142,832 people and demolished 73 houses as of 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said. Most of the deaths were caused by damaged houses, according to rescuers. A number of other structures were also damaged as mud and rock slipped down from a hill, blocking a road and encompassing a truck, as seen on state broadcaster CCTV. Official media reported that early warning systems installed in Chengdu and Yibin sounded alarms a minute before the quake
13 killed, nearly 200
struck. The deaths and injuries were reported from across the province. People in Yibin said aftershocks were felt in the following half-an-hour of the earthquakes. “I was resting in my house when the quake struck,” said Chen Hongxia, who lives on the 16th floor of a residential building in Changning County. “The chandelier and furniture were vigorously shaking, and my family first hid in the toilet and then rushed outside,” Chen said, adding that many of her neighbours rushed to the ground floor. Hu Yukun, also a resident of Changning County, said the quake was quite strong, and that “the ground kept shaking for about a minute.”
Local policeman He Zexi said he first felt the electric fan in his house shaking and then the chandelier began to shake. “It lasted about 30 seconds,” he said.
The Ministry of Emergency Management and the provincial department of emergency management have activated an “emergency response”, according to Xinhua news agency.
The quake caused cracks in a major highway connecting Yibin and Xuyong County of Sichuan’s Luzhou city and it has has been closed. Some sections of two other highways have also been shut.
Meidong and Shuanghe, which are near the epicentre of the quakes, are suffering from poor telecommunications and the townships are being lashed by heavy rains since Monday.
Local police are trying to evacuate the people to safety and hospital staff, firemen and other rescuers are rushing to quake-hit areas for rescue efforts.
Strong tremors were felt in major districts of neighbouring Chongqing municipality, which is not far from the epicentre, and a few residential houses were damaged.
However, no casualties were reported, the Chongqing Municipal Emergency Management Bureau said.
Changning is around 300 km from Chengdu and about 240 km from Chongqing.
In neighbouring Yunnan province, the earthquake was felt in a few counties of Zhaotong city, which is close to Yibin city.
Local fire departments have sent teams to help with rescue efforts, the Xinhua report said.
Sichuan is regularly hit by earthquakes.
In 2008, more than 87,000 people were killed in a 7.9 magnitude tremor 80km (50 miles) north-west of Chengdu.
In 2017 a 7.0-magnitude quake also north of Chengdu killed more than 20 people.
