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7.1-magnitude quake hits Qinghai
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-14 15:00
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 The map shows the location of the epicenter of the 7.1-magnitude quake in Qinghai Province early Wednesday. [chinanews.com.cn] |
YUSHU, Qinghai - About 400 people are dead and 8,000 others were injured after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit northwest China's Qinghai Province early on Wednesday, said Huang Limin, deputy secretary-general of the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture government.
Many others are still buried under the debris of collapsed houses near the epicenter, said Huang Limin, deputy secretary-general of the government of the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu.
More than 5,000 additional rescuers, including soldiers and medical workers have been dispatched to the quake-hit region, according to a news conference held by the Qinghai provincial government.
"Our first task is to save students. Schools are always places that have many people," said Kang Zifu, an army officer in the rescue operation in Yushu. CASUALTIES, DAMAGES AND LOSSES
More than 85 percent of the houses in the Jiegu Township near the epicenter had collapsed, said Zhuohuaxia, a publicity official with the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu.
"The streets in Jiegu are thronged with panic, injured people, with many bleeding in the head," he said.
"Many students are buried under the debris due to building collapse at a vocational school," he said.
"A large crack appears in the wall of the Yushu Hotel, and part of a government office building also collapsed," he said.
"I can see injured people everywhere. The biggest problem now is that we lack tents, we lack medical equipment, medicine and medical workers," he said.
The epicenter is at the Rima Village in the Shanglaxiu Township, about 50 km west of Jiegu, the government seat of the Yushu prefecture, and about 800 km away from Xining, the Qinghai provincial capital.
"The epicenter is a pasturing area and sparsely-populated. I think the quake would not cause casualties as heavy as those in Jiegu," Zhuohuaxia said.
Jiegu has a population of about 100,000, including permanent residents and migrant people, he added.
"Buildings in our school were all toppled, and five pupils have died," said a teacher surnamed Chang at the Yushu Primary School, a boarding school with about 1,000 students.
"Morning sessions did not begin when the quake happened. Some pupils ran out of dorms alive, and those who had not escaped in time were buried," Chang said.
"The houses here are almost all made of wood and earthen walls, which will easily collapse when a quake happens," said Karsum Nyima, deputy director of the News Department of the Yushu TV Station.
Although Yushu is a sparsely-populated region, experts said the quake is very likely to cause "heavy" casualties.
