5.9-magnitude earthquake kills 4 in southwest China (PHOTOS)
Rescuers and local residents help an injured woman (C) following an earthquake in Deqin county, southwest China’s Yunnan province on August 31, 2013. An earthquake on August 31 hit a remote part of southwest China near the popular tourist area of Shangri-La, killing four people and injuring over a dozen more, state media said.
A 5.9-magnitude earthquake hit southwestern China on Saturday, killing at least four people.
Another 10 people were also reported injured.
The quake shook several counties in the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan. The epicenter was in a village in Shangri-La, according to a Chinese report, but the US Geological Survey put it in the small town of Benzilan, located in a neighboring county.
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"We are heading to Benzilan," said Liao Wencai, vice secretary of the Deqen County Committee of the Communist Party of China. "The telecommunication there has been cut off, and many residents cannot be reached by mobile phone."
Around 600 residential units collapsed during the seismic activity and another 55,000 were damaged. About 9,200 people have been forced to relocate.
Boulders rolled down mountainsides, blocking roads in villages, and 17 people were trapped on three tourist buses when landslides struck.
Another 5.1-magnitude earthquake hit Shangri-La on Wednesday, with three major aftershocks recorded by the USGS on Saturday.
China's mountainous southwest is prone to earthquakes. Sichuan was hit by a powerful quake in May 2008, when around 90,000 people were left either dead or missing. A quake in the same province killed 193 people in April of this year.
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