Rescue teams battle aftershocks after strong earthquake in Yunnan
Print Edition
RESCUERS are racing against time to find survivors amid frequent aftershocks in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, where a strong, shallow earthquake in Jinggu County killed at least one person on Tuesday night.
More than 800 firefighters, with 132 vehicles and 35 sniffer dogs, had helped relocate 450 residents to safe places, fire authorities said last night.
The team is also searching houses for survivors and helping build tents.
The People’s Liberation Army Armed Police also arrived soon after the quake and transferred more than 680 people to safe places.
A total of 92,700 people in Jinggu were affected, and 56,880 of them have been relocated, said an official with the county’s publicity department.
Jinggu, about 460 kilometers southwest of Kunming, the provincial capital, has a population of 290,000.
Yunnan has initiated the top-level emergency response, sending rescue staff and materials to the affected areas.
Yunnan Governor Li Jiheng, who has taken command of the rescue effort, arrived at the epicenter of the 6.6-magnitude earthquake at 3:50am yesterday in Jinggu’s Yongping township.
The quake, which struck at 9:49pm on Tuesday, had left 324 people injured.
No major geographic hazards have appeared.
Rescuers said the region experienced little to no rain in the past few days, helping reduce the risk of landslides and other geographical disasters following the earthquake.
However, there are worries that tremors may have cracked a dam at the Changhai Reservoir 10 kilometers upstream of Yongping.
Li called on the water resources department to take emergency measures to eliminate any possible risk.
Chen Deliang, the county’s education chief, said classes had been suspended after 100 schools were damaged.
“About 170,000 square meters of school houses need repairs,” Chen said. It was not known when the schools would reopen. He said local authorities were helping to build makeshift buildings so that classes can resume as soon as possible.
China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom launched emergency programs to restore signals in Jinggu and services had resumed yesterday morning. Hotlines have been opened to help victims trying to get in touch with relatives.
It was the second quake to hit the province in two months. A 6.5-magnitude quake struck Ludian County on August 3, killing at least 615 people.
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