Beijing/Chengdu: The powerful 6.1-magnitude earthquake that jolted China‘s Sichuan province on Wednesday has affected over 13,000 people and damaged five hydropower stations besides causing extensive damage to many houses, local rescue officials said on Thursday.
Four people were killed and 41 injured in the earthquake which rattled Lushan county of Ya’an in Sichuan province on Wednesday evening.
The epicenter, with a depth of 17 kilometres, was monitored at 30.4 degrees north latitude and 102.9 degrees east longitude, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC).
The provincial earthquake administration said that the 6.1-magnitude earthquake of Lushan was an aftershock of a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit the county in 2013.
Ya’an again was hit by a third earthquake, whose magnitude was 3.2 on Thursday morning, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre, after being hit by two quakes on Wednesday.
The quake-prone Sichuan province is located on the seismically active Tibetan Plateau.
Over 90,000 people were killed in the 7.9 magnitude earthquake in 2008, which had caused extensive damage to life and property.
In Wednesday’s quake, a total of 13,081 people in the city were affected by the earthquakes, while 135 houses were seriously damaged, and 4,374 houses were slightly damaged, official media quoted local officials as saying.
Besides, five hydropower stations in Lushan County were damaged and several people have been evacuated. The dead and injured were in Lushan and Baoxing counties respectively.
More than 800 municipal reinforcements have been organised in Ya’an city to carry out search and rescue, treatment of the injured, road scrambling and relocation of quake-affected people, according to local authorities.
So far 200 tents, 1,000 quilts and 200 tent lights have been sent to Lushan and Baoxing counties, said local officials, adding that 61 temporary shelters, 34 in Baoxing county and 27 in Lushan county respectively, were set up to relocate 12,722 people affected by the disaster, official media reports said.
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