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Subscribe to RSSBEIJING-- Rescuers in southwestern China tried on Saturday to reach remote communities rocked by earthquakes that killed at least 80 people and damaged thousands of buildings, state media reported.
More than 200,000 villagers were evacuated after Friday's quakes toppled thousands of homes and sent boulders cascading across roads in a region of small farms and mines near the border between Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, where some of China's poorest people live.
Rescue workers cleared roads to reach survivors and rush aid to the remote areas. The death toll could rise as news trickles in from cut-off areas, the Xinhua news agency said.
The quakes cut off electricity and triggered landslides that blocked roads, hampering rescue efforts. Adding to rescuers' difficulties was rain which forecasters said was expected for the next three days.
"I was extremely scared when it started to shake. After it shook the first, second and third times, it was moving and I was extremely scared," Zhou Weiping, 56, a resident of the township of Guohui in Yiliang County, told Reuters. "We panicked and quickly ran out."
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The first magnitude-5.6 quake struck just before 11:30 a.m. Friday and was followed by an equally strong quake shortly after noon, joined by dozens of aftershocks. Though of moderate strength, the quakes were shallow, which often causes more damage than deeper ones.
State television showed crumbled walls and roads strewn with rubble and rocks. The broadcaster put the death toll at 89 earlier in the day, but later revised it to "at least 80", in line with the official Xinhua news agency's tally.
More than 800 people were injured, Xinhua said. Up to 740,000 people were affected in Yunnan's six worst-hit counties, officials said.
‘Save lives’
In neighboring Guizhou province, more than 11,700 houses were damaged and the lives of nearly 28,000 people were disrupted, the state news agency and officials said.
Buildings in China's less developed regions are often built with little regard for construction standards, making them susceptible to earthquakes.
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Premier Wen Jiabao held an emergency meeting on his plane as he flew to the disaster zone late on Friday. He reached Yiliang, in Yunnan province, near the epicenter, just after midnight and spent the night visiting quake survivors in villages and hospitals, Xinhua said.
State broadcaster CCTV showed Wen talking to victims in a tent settlement set up for the displaced. He called for "rapid, all-out efforts to search for survivors and save lives," according to Xinhua
"We have to keep safety as a top concern and guard against epidemics," Wen was quoted as saying.
Rescuers in Yunnan said they had reached most of the worst-hit areas and the province's civil affairs department was quoted as putting direct economic losses at 3.7 billion yuan ($583 million).
In 2008, some 87,600 people were killed in the southwestern province of Sichuan when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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This just goes to show the importance of having meaningful building standards. Here is SoCal a 5.6 would do only light damage right near the epicenter and it is extremely unlikely that anyone would die. We certainly would not see thousands of homes toppled and over 80 people killed and ten times that many injured. It definitely would not have any lasting affect on the lives of over three quarters of a million people.
I just hope that the death toll does not climb much higher and that they can get the needed aid to the people affected. Based on what this article is saying the damage to infrastructure seems to be extensive and they are worried about the outbreak of disease. This is something that could end up killing many times the number of people who died directly from the quakes if it is not kept under control.
I agree - the earthquake building code can save lives (and dollars in damage).
So sad.
It'll be a lot more than that when it's over.
most of the problem is from depleting natural resources to feed the industry. bigger or stronger buildings aren;t the answer. living in harmony with the environment as people have done for thousands of years is far better than all the crazy structures that have been built.
Rescue efforts aren't helped any by the fact that the rescuers have to work in the very mountainous terrain of southwestern China, either.
JS in SD wrote in part; "This just goes to show the importance of having meaningful building standards."
Sure, but that costs much more money than these very poor folks have or ever will have. There's the same problem with modern sanitation and clean drinking water.
God be with them....
[snort] 'He' was. Your 'God' scripted the calamity and death and misery toll when it furiously 'polished his bishop' and ejaculated the universe into being.
God be with them but..... have some smarts dont sit in a stone cave.
That photo is the reason I came to this thread. No wonder so many have died. If they're all as intelligent as the group of people in that photograph there's a good chance thousands more will die.
G G & Victor;
Chances are that cave has survived thousands of quakes in it's millions of years of existence. What? you genius' think the cave formed last night? There are caves all over the world including China with Neolithic paintings on the walls. Funny how man made structures fall down and decay, but caves have been around nearly as long as the planet and remain after quakes, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, wild fires and all other calamities that topple buildings. Man has been, is and will be for the foreseeable future, subject to the powers of the earth. We are not as clever as some of you seem to think. It took a mere Tsunami to take out a nuclear reactor complex in Japan, something you would think they would have hardened such a potentially dangerous complex against.
XXXX XXXX TEST
more in line with the gov'ts numbers.......get it!
LQQKS like geologist warning are comming to fruiation. Stating that China building the worlds largest dam (3 Georges dam) which is holding back over 3 trillion gallons of water woud slow the earths roation down a fraction.
Now China has had a couple of devasating quakes since the dam has reached capacity. And the Globe is starting to have quakes where they have neve happened before or havent happend in areas for centuries.
lol, you aren't serious are you?
Quite......Especially with your non existience re-buttal. Proof is in the evidence I stated.
My thoughts & prayers are with all those folks out there.
My heartfelt prayers go out to the people.This is happening in the poorest section of china. The people are doing hat they have to to try to survive. It is not easy on them.
Mother nature is getting heavy and she is trying to lose weight. Natural Population control!
with all the quake ,fire and storm , mother make us pay back the resource that we have use . just as we kill the chicken or cow that it eat the feed
Call me heartless... this is payback for the gov't of China.. we will have a bunch of bleeding hearts who will volunteer to help..China needs to get out of Tibet, quit flexing their muscle , taking care of their own .. bring on the aftershocks
If China agrees to reduce the debt we now owe them 1 dollar for every dollar in Aide we will be sending then I say go for it. Otherwise, fug'em.
knucklehead, you're a real piece of work. The same applies to you, Hypothetical.
you have no concept as to what you are, Sichuan
I hope that any United States press applauded the Chinese tragedy... like the Chinese press in Washington D.C. applauded 9/11.
Oh those Two billion chinamen will replace those eighty people with new births by morning. Nothing to get to teary eyed about.
Just to inform everyone because people need to know this. " 559 earth quakes happened in a 30 day period in August 2012 this year. Siesmologists say that that is not normal. The ring of fire.." which is coastlines around all the beach areas around the world" are very active as of present. Earthquakes are increasing in number and ricter scale. In rhe begining of 2012 there were 900 tornados between March and April. The magnetic field of the Earth has shifted a few degrees as well and the Airports have had to realign runways. Also, since 1958 we have lost 50% of our polar ice caps. This is all verifiable on scientific web sites. U.S.G.S. dot com. Weather history for the U.S. and news reports of Airports being realigned. If your smart, you should be saving up on food and water and plenty of seeds, just in case the — hit hits the fan this year. Be smart and safe, not stupid and hide in a box.