Powerful earthquake kills 102, injures 1000 in China

At least 102 people were killed in the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, according to the China Earthquake Administration on Saturday afternoon, Chinese media reported.

The earthquake hit Lushan county of Ya’an City in the province at 8:02 a.m. Saturday Beijing Time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

More than 1,000 were injured in the earthquake, according to a statement from the Lushan county publicity department at noon Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The water and electricity supply in the county has been cut off due to the quake. Most of the buildings in the old urban area of Lushan county and Longmen township collapsed in the quake, according to the statement.

Landslides have blocked traffic in many places across the county and two barrier lakes caused by the landslides are posing risks for the rescue efforts, it said.

About 2,000 rescuers organized by the county government are working in nine towns, it said.

Bifeng Gorge base, a panda research base affiliated to the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center which is only 47 km from the epicenter, has no reports of human or panda casualties, said Yu Xiaoying, a staff member with the Wolong center.

Vehicles damaged by rolling rocks were seen in the county. Houses along a street in the Lushan county seat have also collapsed. Helicopters are hovering, according to Xinhua reporters at the scene.

Patients are receiving medical treatment on the ground in front of the Lushan County Hospital.

More than 500 people are injured, 135 seriously, said Le Zhiyong, deputy head of the hospital.

Huang Qiqun was working at the first floor of a bamboo weaving factory in Longmen township when the earthquake destroyed the building.

Huang, in his 40s, was dug out of the debris by his colleagues and sent to hospital by motorbike, his daughter told Xinhua. Huang is suffering from a head injury.

Multiple temporary settlements with food and water supplies have been established in the county seat, Xinhua reporters said.

A 5.3-magnitude earthquake jolted the border areas between the counties of Lushan and Tianquan at about 11:34 a.m., the strongest aftershock after the 7.0-magnitude quake, according to the provincial seismological bureau.

About 400 armed police have arrived in Lushan county to assist with rescue efforts. More than 1,400 rescuers from the provincial fire-fighting department are rushing to the site.

The hardest-hit areas are in the townships of Longmen and Qingren, said Jin Zelin, an official with the provincial armed police corps.

“At least 24 people have died and 300 are injured, of whom 50 seriously, in Longmen town,” a township government official told Xinhua.

“Old houses in Gucheng village with a population of 3,000 totally collapsed. More than 95 percent of the houses in the village are not fit for living in,” he said.

About 200 technicians from China Mobile Limited’s Sichuan branch have been dispatched to disaster-hit areas to repair the telecommunications network.

China Earthquake Administration (CEA) has sent an emergency-response team to Lushan county.

The team, headed by CEA deputy director Xiu Jigang, will join another team from the Sichuan provincial earthquake bureau, which is also heading for the epicenter.

According to the CEA, the quake originated in the Longmenshan fracture zone.

A total of 12 earthquakes at 5.0-magnitude or above have occurred in the area within 100 kilometers of its epicenter since 1900, including the devastating Wenchuan 8.0-magnitude quake in 2008 that left 87,000 people dead or missing.

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Posted by Tahir Khan on Apr 20 2013. Filed under Latest News, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.