At least 11 people were killed and 122 injured in an earthquake in Changning county of Yibin city in southwest China’s Sichuan Province late on Monday, The People’s Daily reported. The 6.0-magnitude quake occurred at 10.55 pm local time (8.25 pm Indian Standard Time). A second earthquake of magnitude 5.3 on the Richter scale hit the area early on Tuesday.
As many as three people died in Changning and 21 others were injured in the first quake, the local government said. In Gongxian county, three people were killed and 54 injured. The wounded were taken to a hospital and are not critical, The People’s Daily said.
The Ministry of Emergency Management activated an emergency response system and sent work teams to the affected areas. The National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration has dispatched 5,000 tents, 10,000 folding beds and 20,000 quilts to the quake-hit areas. As many as 63 fire engines have also been dispatched from Sichuan Province.
A major highway connecting Yibin and Xuyong counties of Luzhou city in Sichuan was closed due to the quake, Xinhua reported. Sections of other roads have also been blocked or closed.
“I was resting in my house when the quake struck,” Chen Hongxia, a resident of the 16th floor of a residential building in Changning County, said. “The chandelier and the furniture in the house were shaking very badly, and my family first hid in the toilet, then rushed to the outside.”
Meidong and Shuanghe towns, which are near the epicentre of the quake, have lost telecommunication signals and are reeling under heavy rainfall, PTI reported. Strong tremors were felt in major districts of Chongqing Municipality, which is not far from the epicentre, but no casualties were reported, the Chongqing Municipal Emergency Management Bureau said.
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