Chinese earthquake claims 24 lives

AN EARTHQUAKE toppled more than 1,000 houses and apartment buildings in China’s southwest near the border with Burma, killing at least 24 people and injuring more than 200, officials and state media said.

Police, firefighters and soldiers rushed to the area to pull out people trapped in the rubble, including a man and girl stuck in the stairwell of a four-story building, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.

Parts of a supermarket and a hotel caved in, while sidewalks were lined with injured on blankets, being shielded from the sun by large vendor umbrellas.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported24 people had been killed, including four students, citing the Yingjiang county government in Yunnan province. Another 207 people were injured, 33 of them in critical condition.

The website of the Chinese government earthquake monitoring station said the magnitude-5.8 quake was centred in Yingjiang and struck just before 0500 GMT at a depth of six miles.

Some 1,200 houses or apartments were crushed by the quake, said Zhao Yunshan, director of Yingjiang government press office. More than 127,000 people have been evacuated to nearby shelters, Xinhua reported, citing the Civil Affairs Ministry.

According to the USGS, more than one million people may have been exposed to the worst shaking.

Vice-president Xi Jinping, expected to be the country’s next leader, called for an “all-out” effort to get food, water and clothing to those affected by the quake, Xinhua said.

More than 1,000 soldiers have been sent to aid rescue efforts, the news agency said. The quake hit while many people, including students, were home for a customary midday rest, CCTV reported.

Tremors continued to be felt in the area throughout the afternoon and evening, according to CCTV reporter Shu Qian, who was at the disaster scene in Yingjiang County.

The quake’s epicentre was in Shiming Village.