China Earthquake: kills 12, injured 134

More than 4,000 people were relocated as a large number of structures were damaged or had collapsed following late Monday’s earthquake outside Yibin in Sichuan province.

News Desk

The toll from a strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake in southwest China rose to 12 dead and 134 injured on Tuesday, as rescuers pulled bodies and survivors from wrecked buildings.

More than 4,000 people were relocated as a large number of structures were damaged or had collapsed following late Monday’s earthquake outside Yibin in Sichuan province. The quake happened at 10:55 p.m. Monday.

More than 10,000 rooms within an undisclosed number of buildings were moderately damaged, while 12 collapsed, according to Yibin authorities. The homes of more than 4,000 families were damaged in Gong county.

An early warning alarm system was triggered in the provincial capital Chengdu about one minute before the earthquake struck, Xinhua said. The alert rang 10 seconds before it hit Yibin.

A three-second headstart before an earthquake strikes could prevent 14 percent of casualties, Xinhua said.

Nine people died in Changning county and three others in Qixian county, the Yibin city government also said in its Twitter-like Weibo account, up from an initial death toll of six overnight.

Rescuers pulled six bodies and seven survivors from buildings, it said.

Xinhua noted that more than 50 people were being treated in two hospitals.

More than 500 firefighters have been dispatched to the scene. Rescue personnel were also sent with 5,000 tents, 10,000 folding cots and other emergency supplies, Xinhua reported.

The area was hit by a series of at least four aftershocks, the largest of which had a magnitude of 5.1.