China Earthquake Kills 12
July 22, 2003
BEIJING (AP) — A strong earthquake toppled thousands of mud-brick houses in a mountainous area in China's southwest, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 200 others, officials and state media reported Tuesday.
Television footage showed a panorama of caved-in roofs and crumbling houses. Most people were reportedly sleeping when the magnitude 6.2 quake struck before midnight Monday in the remote region.
"The death toll will definitely rise, although we can't tell how significant it will be," said an official in Yunnan province's Dayao County, where the quake struck.
The official, who would give on his surname Chen, said 15 people were killed. But the official China News Service put the death toll at 12.
The quake was centered near the town of Tanhua, the Xinhua News Agency said. The remote area, about 1,400 miles southwest of Beijing, suffers frequent earthquakes.
A quake of magnitude 6 can cause severe damage in populated areas.
More than 200 people were injured, 23 of them seriously, said Liu Jianyun, another official in Dayao County.
State television said 5,000 earthen houses collapsed, as well as 18 schools and 68 government buildings.
The earthquake also damaged a power station, Xinhua said.
China dispatched more than 2,000 soldiers and paramilitary police to help with rescue efforts, Xinhua reported.
Most telecommunications to the stricken area had been cut off, said another Dayao County official, who would give only his surname, Li.
"There have already been two aftershocks," Li said.
The quake could be felt in the provincial capital of Kunming, 110 miles to the southeast, the reports said.
Tanhua is located between Kunming and the town of Dali, which is popular with tourists for its traditional stone architecture and cobbled streets.
An official in Dali said there were reports of houses collapsing in nearby mountain villages, but no damage to Dali's famous sites. He would give only his surname, Xu.
A quake in February 1996 in Lijiang, another popular tourist spot in Yunnan, killed more than 300 people.
Lijiang was rattled by Monday night's earthquake, but suffered no major damage or any casualties, said a city official there who refused to give his name.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-07-22-china-earthquake_x.htm