By Xinhua,
Kunming (China) : At least one person was killed and over 400,000 people displaced when an earthquake measuring 6 on the Richter scale shook southwest China’s Yunnan province Thursday evening, officials said.
Over 75,000 houses were damaged with the impact of the tremors.
A 50-year-old woman was buried under the debris of a collapsed house and she later died in hospital, said an official at Yao’an county.
Officials at the disaster-relief headquarters said 325 people were injured, 24 seriously.
Over 1,000 soldiers and police officers were helping local residents to move to safe places.
More than 400,000 people in the quake zone need to be evacuated or relocated, officials said, adding tents, medicine and food were distributed to local residents.
More than 18,000 houses collapsed and 75,000 were damaged in Yao’an and five other counties.
The damage from the quake is so far estimated at 2.5 billion yuan ($365.9 million), authorities said.
The quake struck at 7.19 p.m., at a depth of about 10 km, with the epicentre in the county’s Guantun township, about 200 km from the provincial city of Kunming.
“I was harvesting tobacco leaves in the farm when the quake hit. I felt dizzy and saw villagers falling over and many houses collapsed,” said Dong Zhaofu, a farmer at Guantun village in Yao’an county.
Dong Zhihui, another villager, said his daughter was hit by falling rocks and broke her foot.
Strong tremors were felt in Chuxiong, Lijiang City, Kunming and Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture.
Eight aftershocks measuring 3 to 4.1 on the Richter scale were felt. Three centred in Yao’an and the other five in the neighbouring Dayao county.
Yunnan Governor Qin Guangrong ordered 20 million yuan for disaster relief.
The civil affairs department of Yunnan Province allocated 4,500 tents, 3,000 quilts and other relief materials to Yao’an county.