Large Quake Hits Western China
Issue date: 4/15/10 Section: News
|
According to China's earthquake agency, the quake had a magnitude of 6.9. The origin of the quake was in Yushu County, a remote and underdeveloped area.
A seismologist, Gu Guohua, said in an interview with the national broadcaster CCTV that 90 percent of the homes in the county seat, Jeigu, had collapsed.Several persons remain unaccounted for, including 20 children thought to be buried in the wreckage of a primary school and at least 50 people in the rubble of collapsed office
buildings. China National Radio, citing
an official with the local Red Cross Society of China, said that 70 percent of the school buildings had collapsed in the
Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, an area the size of South Korea that has a
population of 350,000. Just two years ago, the Sichuan Province of China was
devastated by a large quake that killed 87,000. The epicenters of the two quakes were separated by about 630 miles. According to on site officials, rescue efforts are difficult due to a lack of heavy equipment. Medical supplies and tents are also in short supply. At least 18
aftershocks measuring more than 6.0 followed the quake throughout the day.
Be the first to comment on this story