Magnitude 6.1 Quake Hits Southwest China, Causing One Death

Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

[Xinhua: "2nd Ld-Writethu: 6.1-Magnitude Quake Hits SW China, Causing One death"]

BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) – One person was killed and 23 others were injured in a 6.1-magnitude earthquake in Qingchuan County in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, at 5:49 p.m. on Tuesday.

The casualties were in Yaodu Township, which was also severely affected by the 8.0 quake on May 12, said an official in the publicity department of the Qingchuan County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

Ma Jian, chief of the publicity department, said the latest quake also disrupted communications in Yaodu. Details of other damage are not available yet.

The China Earthquake Networks Centre said Tuesday’s aftershock struck Qingchuan, adjacent to Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, with the epicentre about 10 km underground.

It was felt in the cities of Hanzhong and Xi’an, both in Shaanxi, as well as Chongqing. Many people rushed out of buildings in those cities.

The death toll from the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province and its neighbouring regions stood at 69,207 as of Monday noon, the State Council Information Office said in a statement.

The number of people listed as missing and injured stood at 18,194 and 374,468, respectively.

In the 96 hours ending Monday noon, three aftershocks measuring 4.0 to 4.9, one between 6.0 and 6.9 and 770 aftershocks at or below magnitude 3.9 were monitored in the quake zone, according to the China Earthquake Administration.

A total of 22,019 aftershocks had been detected since May 12.

Originally published by Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1353 5 Aug 08.

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