Nineteen injured in southwest China earthquakes

China View (Link) (December 26, 2008)

Nineteen people were injured and thousands were affected in two earthquakes measuring 4.3 and 4.9 on the Richter scale in China's southwestern province of Yunnan early Friday, local authorities said. A 4.9-magnitude earthquake hit Ruili, a city of 100,000 people on China-Myanmar border in Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of Dehong at 4:20 a.m., the provincial seismic network reported.

Three people, including the parents of a child called Ai Han in Shunha Village, were seriously wounded. Another 16 suffered slight injuries, according to the quake-relief headquarter of Ruili City. "It's still unclear who these people are and how they were injured," said Yang Yueguo, the city's Communist Party chief. "Nearly 50,000 people in the city were affected, about 10,000 of whom have been evacuated to safer places."

The quake destroyed the city government's old office building and damaged 32 schools. Ninety-nine houses collapsed and another 35,000 suffered different damages, he said. Local officials had allocated 300,000 yuan (44,000 U.S. dollars) of quake-relief funds and were distributing supplies to the residents. Another earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale jolted Yiliang County in Kunming City, the provincial capital, at 2:19 a.m. No casualties have been reported.

More than 1,200 people in eight villages were affected and more than 100 houses suffered damage, local officials said. Residents in Kunming City felt the tremble. A citizen surnamed Yang said she was awakened by the shock early in the morning. From Aug. 20 to 21, three moderate earthquakes in Yingjiang County neighboring Ruili City killed five people and injured more than 100.