Strong earthquake hits SW Chinese county

Source: Xinhuanet | 06-04-2007 09:52

A local resident clears the debris of his house following a strong earthquake in Ning'er, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, June 3, 2007. The 6.4-magnitude quake struck the county seat of Ning'er shortly after 5:30 a.m. (2130 GMT Saturday), bringing down houses and killing at least three people, one a 4-year-old, and injuring 300, Xinhua reported. [Xinhua]

Three people have been confirmed dead, and at least 300 injured after a strong earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck southwest China's Yunnan Province on Sunday.

The dead included a four-year-old boy, who was sleeping with his mother when the earth-built walls of their house collapsed in the quake and buried him and half of the body of his mother. The mother was rescued but the boy was killed.

The quake shook the old downtown area of Ning'er at 5:34 a.m., with the epicenter at 23 degrees north and 101.1 degrees east, according to the China Earthquake Administration.

Twenty seriously injured people had been transferred to the city's hospitals.

"The house was shaking hard," said Zhu Shoukang, a 60-year-old man in a residential area of the county. He was sleeping when the quake occurred. He immediately hid himself under the bed and managed to come out of the house during the intervals of the quake.

Zhu said he dared not return to his house, as it had crevices on its walls after the quake.

The quake, which affected 186,000 people in 35,000 households, also forced the evacuation of 120,000 residents, said a spokesman of the provincial civil affairs department. Many residents had moved to public areas as their houses either collapsed or were damaged.

The city's seismic bureau had recorded more than 300 aftershocks by 3:30 p.m. The strongest occurred at 10:49 a.m. with a magnitude of 5.1, centered at 23.02 degrees north and 101.06 degrees east.

Ning'er County, covering 3,670 square kilometers, has a population of 190,000. It had reported nine quakes measuring five or above on the Richter scale in history, with the strongest of 6.8 which happened on March 15, 1979.

More than 70 mobile phone signals transmission stations were severely damaged, making it difficult to make cell phone calls.

The county's power grid was also severely damaged with reduced capacity, while two mid-sized reservoirs were cracked.

Coal mines in Ning'er and surrounding areas were ordered to suspend operations with all workers evacuated from pits, said Duan Liyuan, head of the provincial work safety bureau.