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Two killed in earthquake in SW China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-10 15:10

CHONGQING: An earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale late Saturday left two people dead and one slightly injured in southwest China's Chongqing municipality, the municipal government said Monday.

Related readings:  Moderate earthquake hits Taiwan  Magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits off Taiwan  China marks 1st anniversary of Wenchuan earthquake

A total of 425 people in Rongchang county were relocated after 173 houses were destroyed in the quake and 267 houses were badly damaged, a municipal government spokesman said.

According to the municipal seismological bureau of Chongqing, the "moderate" quake occurred at 9:26 pm Saturday at a depth of 11 kilometers, and the epicenter was at Yujiu Village, Ronglong town.

Rongchang county sits on a fault line running through Mount Huaying, which is part of a major tectonic belt along the boundary of Sichuan Province and Chongqing, where "numerous" earthquakes had been recorded, according to the municipal seismological bureau of Chongqing.