At least 67 dead as strong quake hits northwest China

[Ah Hai]

BEIJING : A strong earthquake killed at least 67 people and buried many others in northwestern China's remote Qinghai province on Wednesday, the government said.

Many houses have collapsed, roads have been damaged or blocked by landslides and telecommunications has been disrupted, local officials said after the quake which was measured by the US Geological Survey at a magnitude of 6.9.

"Soldiers have been dispatched to save the people buried in the collapsed houses," the official Xinhua news agency quoted a local official, Huang Limin, as saying.

The China Earthquake Administration put the magnitude of the quake in the remote high-altitude region at 7.1, saying at least 67 people were confirmed dead.

It said there was extensive damage to local structures, collapsing many, and caused cracks in a local dam.

The USGS said the quake hit at 7:49 am (2349 GMT Tuesday) and was centred 380 kilometres (240 miles) south-southeast of the city of Golmud, at a depth of 46 kilometres.

Three aftershocks rattled the area shortly after the quake, with magnitudes of up to 5.8, the USGS reported.

Calls by AFP to local government headquarters and businesses in Yushu county, the quake's epicentre, went unanswered as the earthquake administration said the quake caused disruptions to telecommunications in the area.

The county has a population of about 80,000 people.

Xinhua quoted officials saying rescue personnel and equipment were being rushed to the area but warned they could be hampered as roads had been damaged or blocked by landslides.

The remote high-altitude region is prone to earthquakes. The zone, which is home to ethnic Mongolians and Tibetan farmers and herdsmen, is dotted with coal, tin, lead and copper mines.

A 6.2-magnitude quake rattled Golmud in August last year, triggering landslides and the collapse of about 30 homes, but there were no reports of casualties.

A massive 8.0-magnitude quake in May 2008 in neighbouring Sichuan province devastated a huge area of southwestern China, leaving at least 87,000 people dead or missing.

- AFP/il

 

[jacobsgoh]

Many happy returns.

 

[postnew]

In this photo taken by a mobile phone, local people gather outside after being evacuated from buildings following an earthquake that hit the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu, northwest China's Qinghai province, Wednesday, April 14, 2010. A series of strong earthquakes struck China's western Qinghai province Wednesday, toppling houses, killing scores of people and burying many others in a mountainous rural area, officials and state media said​

 

[Watchman]

Why is the guy holding on to Ipod speakers ?

 

[postnew]

In this photo taken by a mobile phone, the rubble of destroyed houses fill the street after an earthquake hit the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu, northwest China's Qinghai province Wednesday, April 14, 2010.​

 

[postnew]

Strong quake in western China's Qinghai kills 300
By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer Gillian Wong, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING – A series of strong earthquakes struck China's western Qinghai province Wednesday, killing at least 300 people, injuring thousands and burying many others under toppled houses in a mountainous rural area, officials and state media said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said a magnitude 6.9 temblor struck an area in southern Qinghai, near Tibet, on Wednesday morning and was followed by several aftershocks.

The main quake sent residents fleeing as it toppled houses made of m&d and wood, said Karsum Nyima, the Yushu county television station's deputy head of news, speaking by phone with broadcaster CCTV.

"In a flash, the houses went down. It was a terrible earthquake," he said. "In a small park, there is a Buddhist tower and the top of the tower fell off. ... Everybody is out on the streets, standing in front of their houses, trying to find their family members."

The quake hit the county of Yushu, a Tibetan area in Qinghai's south, said the China Earthquake Networks Center, which measured the quake's magnitude at 7.1. A local government Web site put the county's population in 2005 at 89,300, a community of mostly herders and farmers.

State broadcaster CCTV said the death toll had risen to about 300, with an additional 8,000 people injured.

The China Earthquake Administration said phone lines were down, hindering rescue efforts, while workers were racing to release water from a reservoir where a crack had formed after the quake.

In Jiegu, a township near the epicenter, more than 85 percent of houses had collapsed, while large cracks have appeared on buildings still standing, the official Xinhua News Agency cited Zhuohuaxia, a local publicity official, as saying.

"The streets in Jiegu are thronged with panic and full of injured people, with many of them bleeding from their injuries," he said.

There were also students buried under the debris of a collapsed vocational school, Zhuohuaxia said.

State television showed footage of paramilitary police using shovels to dig around a house with a collapsed wooden roof. A local military official, Shi Huajie, told state broadcaster CCTV rescuers were working with limited equipment.

"The difficulty we face is that we don't have any excavators. Many of the people have been buried and our soldiers are trying to pull them out with human labor," Shi said. "It is very difficult to save people with our bare hands."

Five thousand tents and 100,000 thick, cotton coats and heavy blankets were being sent to help survivors cope with strong winds and near-freezing temperatures of around 43 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees C), the Qinghai provincial government said in a statement.

Wu Yong, a local military chief, said medical workers also were urgently needed but that roads leading to the airport had been badly damaged by the quake, creating difficulties for people and supplies to be flown in. He said rescue efforts were hindered by frequent aftershocks and strong winds.

The epicenter of the first quake was located 235 miles (380 kilometers) south-southeast of Golmud, a large city in Qinghai, at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), the USGS said.

Ten minutes later, the area was hit by a magnitude 5.3 quake, which was followed after two minutes by a temblor measuring 5.2, according to the U.S. agency. Both the subsequent earthquakes were measured at a depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers). Another quake, measuring 5.8, was recorded at 9:25 a.m.

Xinhua cited officials at the China Earthquake Networks Center as saying at least 18 aftershocks have been reported and that more temblors exceeding magnitude 6 were likely to occur in the coming days.

In 2008, a magnitude-7.9 quake in Sichuan province left almost 90,000 people dead or missing.

 

[eatshitndie]

Why is the guy holding on to Ipod speakers ?

they're intravenous fluid packs, you moron.

 

[postnew]

Screen grab from Chinese state CCTV shows military personnel attempting to save a person's life following a major earthquake in Yushu County, northwest China's Qinghai province. The death toll in the strong earth tremor, which was measured by the US Geological Survey at a magnitude of 6.9, has risen to around 300, with another 8,000 injured, Chinese state media has reported.
(AFP/CCTV)​

 

[postnew]

A view of destroyed houses after an earthquake hit the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu, Qinghai Province April 14, 2010 in this photo released by China's official Xinhua News Agency. About 300 people have died and 8,000 others were injured after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit northwest China's Qinghai Province early on Wednesday, a local official said, according to Xinhua News Agency.​

 

[postnew]

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, building blocks are scattered near a destroyed building after an earthquake at Jiegu Town, of Yushu, a Tibetan autonomous prefecture in western Qinghai Province of northwest China, on Wednesday, April 14, 2010.​

 

[postnew]

A video grab shows soldiers searching for survivors after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake, in Yushu County, Qinghai Province April 14, 2010.​

 

[postnew]

Rescue workers pull out children from a collapsed building in Yushu county in western China's Qinghai province on Wednesday, April 14, 2010. A series of strong earthquakes struck a far western Tibetan area of China on Wednesday, killing at least 400 people and injuring more than 10,000 as houses made of m&d and wood collapsed, trapping many more, officials said. (AP Photo)​

 

[postnew]

Debris are seen following a 6.9 magnitude earthquake which struck China's Qinghai province just before 8am local time on April 14, 2010 in Yushu county, Qinghai province of China.​

 

[postnew]

Workers at the Henan Disaster Assistance Center despatch cotton-padded overcoats to the quake-hit area on April 14, 2010 in Zhengzhou, Henan province of China. A 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck China's Qinghai province just before 8am local time Wednesday in Yushu county, Qinghai province of China. Reports state that 400 people are dead and about 8000 injured. The US Geological Survey reported this to be the strongest since 1976.​

 

[postnew]

The media work following a 6.9 magnitude earthquake which struck China's Qinghai province just before 8am local time on April 14, 2010 in Yushu county, Qinghai province of China.​