Photo: Gansu Province, ChinaStephen Cook: Interestingly, this area of China is the country’s least densely-populated region.
Twin Earthquakes Kill at Least 47 in Gansu Province, China
Staff Writers, news.com.au – July 22, 2013http://tinyurl.com/mykndgh
TWO strong earthquakes have devastated parts of western China, killing at least 47 people and injuring 296 with villages cut off from contact.
The US Geological Survey measured the magnitude of the initial quake as 5.9 and the second at 5.6-magnitude in Gansu province. The Chinese government measured the first quake at 6.6 magnitude.
An estimated 380 buildings have collapsed and 5,600 more have been damaged in Zhang county, the Dingxi government said, Sina Weibo reported.
Eight towns in remote, mountainous areas have been seriously damaged in the earthquake and subsequent flooding and mudslides, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Power outages and communications were cut off in 13 towns in Zhangxian county, Xinhua said.
The Lanzhou military region has dispatched 1000 soldiers with Gansu Military police sending 500 troops to assist in rescue efforts, Phoenix News reported.
Rescuers are battling to reach survivors in remote areas.
The quake hit near the city of Dingxi in Gansu province, a region of mountains, desert and pastureland with a population of 26 million. It is one of China’s more lightly populated provinces, although the Dingxi area has a greater concentration of farms and towns with a total population of about 2.7 million.
Pictures broadcast on state television showed rural villages with rubble-strewn streets and houses crumbled. Locals in Minxian county in Gansu province, said they saw trees and homes shaking, with the quake lasting for about one minute.
Earlier, an official surnamed He from Minxian, said there were 19 dead and more than 200 injured in seven townships severely hit by the quakes. The Chinese government measured the first earthquake at 6.6 magnitude
The quake hit near the city of Dingxi in Gansu province, a region of mountains, desert and pastureland with a population of 26 million. That makes it one of China’s more lightly populated provinces, although the Dingxi area has a greater concentration of farms and towns with a total population of about 2.7 million.
Deaths were also reported in Min County in the rural southern part of Dingxi municipality, the Xinhua News Agency reported.