The death toll after a magnitude-6.5 earthquake that struck southwestern China yesterday increased to 367 as rescuers searched for survivors through the rubble of thousands of collapsed homes.
Five people remained missing in the region around the city of Zhaotong in the southwestern province of Yunnan as of 2:30 a.m. Beijing time today, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a statement on its website. The quake injured 1,801 and prompted the evacuation of 57,200, it said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to reach those who may be trapped and to treat those injured in the quake that struck yesterday afternoon, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. More than 2,500 troops have been sent to the area, where about 12,000 houses were toppled, the news agency said. Damage to bridges and roads meant many rescuers had to walk by foot to reach affected areas, it said.
The quake, which was felt strongly in most of Yunnan, will cause “relatively serious destruction,” the China Earthquake Administration said in a statement. The tremor is the highest level in the province since a quake hit Yao’an county in January 2000, Xinhua reported, citing an unidentified person at the provincial earthquake bureau.
Some roads to Longtoushan are blocked by mudslides following days of rainfall, and telecommunications have been affected, Xinhua said.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Zhang Dingmin in Beijing at dzhang14@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andreea Papuc at apapuc1@bloomberg.net John Liu, Tan Hwee Ann
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