Live report: 7.0-magnitude quake hits SW China's Sichuan
Updated: 2013-04-20 16:18
(chinadaily.com.cn)
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15: 12
The death toll from a strong quake that struck southwest China's Sichuan province on Saturday has risen to 71, according to the China Earthquake Administration.
15:00
Pan Huaiwen, director of the China Earthquake Networks Center, said the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Ya’an is estimated to be less serious than the 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Wenchuan in 2008, and bigger quakes are not likely to occur after the main quake. Jiang Haikun, vice-director of the prediction department at the center, said the quake in Ya’an is not an aftershock of the Wenchuan quake, Xinhua News Agency reported.
14:52
As of 13:00, firefighters from Sichuan province have rescued 34 people out of the debris of the quake, of whom 32 people,including a pregnant woman and two children, survived. The firefighters are now on their way to Longmen, Taoping and Rongsheng, the areas severely hit by the quake.
14:50
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Anchorwoman Chen Ying of Ya'an TV, who was getting married when the earthquake hit, reports in her wedding gown from the street. [Photo by Chengdu Economic Daily via Sina weibo] |
The USGS, which rates earthquakes slightly different and has 7.0 listed as a 6.6, but the table shows the aftershocks since the massive quake.
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Flood prevention office of Lushan county said that cracks can be seen in Modong Reservoir and Miaoxi Reservoir in Lushan county, and Shiyang Reservoir in Tianquan county. People in downstream have been evacuated.
14:38
Four events of a magnitude 6.0 or greater have occurred within 200km of the latest event in the past 40 years, including the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake and a subsequent aftershock. The northwestern margin of the Sichuan Basin has previously experienced destructive earthquakes, accaccording to USGS data.
14:35
The first 72 hours after the earthquake are the golden time for victims to be rescued. The surviving chances for quake victims decrease sharply as time goes by. If rescued within 30 minutes, 95 percent of the victims would survive; within 24 hours, 81 percent. For people who are rescued in the second or third day, their survival rate would be 53% and 36.7%.
