Update About China Earthquake Death Toll in 6.6 Magnitude Earthquake
EARTHQUAKE DEATH TOLL- A 6.6 magnitude earthquake strike China that cause death up to 76 people while others are still missing.
As thousands of people were relocated into temporary shelters and torrential rains threatened to trigger more landslides, official media announced Wednesday that the death toll from a powerful earthquake that slammed southwest China had increased to 74.
According to the US Geological Survey, the 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck on Monday at a depth of 10 kilometers about 43 kilometers southeast of the city of Kangding in the Sichuan Province. 34 fatalities were confirmed in Sichuan’s Ya’an city, according to the government-run People’s Daily, while 40 fatalities were reported in the nearby Ganzi prefecture.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, more than 21,000 people have been evacuated from locations vulnerable to landslides or building collapse.
Rescuers are still searching isolated areas in the southwest mountainous region of the country in an effort to locate earthquake survivors. Bases on the report of ABS-CBN News, dozens of people are thought to be trapped or missing.
In the village of Moxi, one of the worst-affected locations, a woman who was buried for over 5 hours under a collapsed hotel said, “My head was stuck between the 2 columns, and my legs were sandwiched between the tables.”
“I could only lie in one position, resigned to my fate. I don’t know who saved me,” adding that she is concerned for her children and wondered if their school building has collapsed.
“I could only think about whether the children were crying for their mother.”
The report mentioned that dramatic video shown by state television CCTV saw kindergarten teachers waking sleeping students and bringing them outside when the earthquake struck.
Buildings in the nearby megacity of Chongqing and the provincial capital of Chengdu, where millions of people are confined to their homes under a strict Covid-19 lockdown, were also shook by the earthquake, according to residents who spoke to AFP.
As of 7 a.m., there had been at least 13 aftershocks of magnitude 3.0 or higher recorded. Tuesday at local time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.
After the quake knocked out electricity throughout large swaths of the countryside, the provincial grid operator reported yesterday that power had been restored to over 22,000 families and that 12 emergency shelters in Ya’an were connected to a temporary power supply.
Beijing’s cabinet announced on Monday that a special team had been formed to oversee the operations, and CCTV claimed that more than 6,500 people had been despatched as part of the emergency rescue response.
However, the China Meteorological Administration issued a warning that “heavy rainfall” would fall in earthquake-affected areas until Thursday and that landslides would make rescue efforts difficult.
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