56 killed, 500 injured as earthquake hits China’s Sichuan

ANANTH KRISHNAN

Students gather outside their school buildings to avoid

 aftershocks of an earthquake, in Dazhou, southwest

 China's Sichuan Province on Saturday.

At least 56 people have been killed and more than 500 injured as a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck an area of China’s south-western Sichuan province on Saturday morning, with authorities fearing the number of casualties could continue to rise considering the impact of the earthquake which was felt in at least five provinces.

The earthquake struck the city of Ya’an, in Lushan county, around 140 kilometres from the bustling provincial capital Chengdu, at 5.32 am IST. The impact was strong enough to bring dozens of Chengdu residents to the streets, according to photographs posted on Chinese social media websites.

The official Xinhua news agency said, citing provincial authorities, that at least 56 people have been confirmed killed, as of 11 am IST, with the number expected to increase as relief work gets under way to clear rubble from collapsed buildings in Lushan’s towns and cities. More than 500 people have been injured and 135 of them were in a serious condition, according to Le Zhiyong, deputy head of the Lushan County hospital.

Authorities fear the number of dead and injured could rise quickly through the day considering the impact of the earthquake, which left buildings of even three and four floors reduced to piles of rubble, according to online photographs.

More than 2,000 soldiers have already been dispatched to assist in recovery efforts, military sources told Xinhua.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is expected to arrive in the provincial capital Chengdu on Saturday afternoon, and is likely to visit quake-hit areas in Lushan.

The earthquake struck a part of the province not far from where a devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake, five years ago, left at least 90,000 people dead or missing.

The China Earthquake Administration (CEA) said the quake “originated in the Longmenshan fracture zone”, where 12 earthquakes of 5-magnitude or greater, including the 2008 earthquake, have been reported since 1900.

The 2008 earthquake reduced entire towns in Sichuan to rubble. The recovery process has been difficult, with the government pouring billions of dollars into reconstruction projects in towns and counties not far from where Saturday's earthquake struck.

The city of Ya'an was also badly affected by the 2008 earthquake, and, like surrounding towns and counties, was only beginning to turn the page over the last disaster when Saturday's earthquake struck. Tens of thousands of people were left homeless in Ya'an five years ago, according to Chinese media reports.

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the city at 5.32 am IST with an epicenter of 13 km depth, according to Xinhua. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the magnitude as 6.6, the Associated Press reported, with the 13 km depth seen as shallow enough to magnify the impact.

The impact was powerful enough to rattle buildings in Chengdu, more than 140 km away, and to have been felt in surrounding provinces of Guizhou, Gansu, Shaanxi and Yunnan. A Chengdu resident told Xinhua his building shook for 20 seconds, and he saw “tiles fall off nearby buildings”. Xinhua said at least four aftershocks were felt, the largest recorded as having a 5.3 magnitude.

thehindu.com