Quake displaces tens of thousands in China
Tens of thousands of earthquake victims in south-west China were living in tents or in the open today, fearful of returning to their damaged homes a day after a magnitude 6.4 quake killed three people and injured at least 300.
Hundreds of aftershocks sent jittery residents scurrying for safety.
The quake struck near China’s border with Laos shortly after 5.30am on Sunday (10.30 pm Irish Time Saturday), said China’s official Xinhua News Agency, citing the government’s seismological bureau. The US Geological Survey measured the quake’s magnitude at 6.2.
Xinhua said 20 of the injured were seriously hurt.
The dead included a four-year-old boy who was sleeping with his mother when the mud walls of their home collapsed, burying them, Xinhua said. The mother was later rescued.
Xinhua, citing a provincial civil affairs spokesman, said 120,000 people had been forced to leave their homes.
More than 300 aftershocks had been recorded by the local seismic bureau, Xinhua reported, including one with a magnitude of 5.1.
