Monday, August 25, 2008

Three fatalities amid quakes in SW China's Yunnan Province

Local authorities on last Friday confirmed two more people died in Thursday's 5.9-magnitude tremor in Yunnan Province, bringing the death toll to three, as a series of quakes hit the southwest China region last week.

Government officials in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, did not disclose the identities of those killed

Relief efforts are under way.

China's earthquake network recorded two quakes in Yingjiang, a county on the Sino-Myanmar border, on Thursday: one 4.9-magnitude event at 8:20 p.m. and another 5.9-magnitude quake four minutes later.

Information from the provincial civil affairs bureau said that apart from the three deaths, the dual quakes injured 106 people, including 24 seriously. They also toppled numerous residences, forcing the evacuation of 120,000 people.

There was also damage to transport, power, water and communications infrastructure, as well as education and health facilities. Blackouts were reported in the county seat of Yingjiang and some of its townships. Some areas got their power back by 10:20 p.m. on Thursday.

The Civil Affairs Ministry sent a special working group to assess the situation and offer assistance. It also allocated 5,000tents from the disaster relief reserve of the central government.

A seven-member panel of seismologists from the China Earthquake Administration left for the area on Friday, to join 50 local earthquake specialists already in Yingjiang.

The Yunnan Provincial Communist Party and government authorities were monitoring the situation closely in Yingjiang. Governor Qin Guangrong on Friday went to visit the region.

The Yunnan Civil Affairs Bureau sent materials including 2,150 tents and 3,300 quilts to Yingjiang, while the provincial health bureau dispatched 10 medical workers.

A team of 1,300 people from the Yunnan border guard detachment, with more than 80 vehicles, joined the relief efforts.

The two quakes were preceded by a tremor in the county measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale at 5:35 a.m. on Wednesday, with the epicenter located at Sudian Township, 46 km from the Yingjiang county seat.

More than 110 aftershocks of up to 3.6 on the Richter scale had been recorded as of 6 p.m. on Thursday, shortly before the pair of quakes.

The livelihoods of more than 14,000 people were affected and 3,400 others were evacuated after Wednesday's tremor last week. No one had been reported injured.

The tremor destroyed six homes and damaged 4,056 others, and many of the damaged residences were in dangerous condition. It also damaged 17 school buildings, 28 dormitories and some communication facilities.

About 2,500 people, including police and government officials, participated in the rescue effort. The local government allocated 100,000 yuan for disaster relief.

The affected area has a population density of 45 people per square km and lies at an average altitude of 2,000 meters.

Source: Xinhua

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