Hundreds injured in quake-area aftershock

2008-8-2  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

TWO aftershocks hit the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan yesterday, site of the May 12 earthquake, leaving 231 people injured, four seriously.

The second aftershock, measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale occurred at 4:32pm at the juncture of Pingwu and Beichuan counties in Mianyang City.

In Pingwu County, 130,000 people were affected, 540 houses destroyed and 2,450 others damaged, said Meng Xiancai, vice head of the county's publicity department.

The tremor also caused severe landslides from Pingwu County to Nanba Township, the eastern route to the Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong scenic spots in the northern part of Sichuan.

Residents along the highway from Pingwu to Nanba ran out on to the highway in panic.

"I thought it was another May 12 earthquake," said a local resident surnamed Zhang.

Many residents said they would stay outside overnight.

The affected villagers in the worst-hit areas would be accommodated in tents and prefab homes, Meng said.

Most of the communication facilities were damaged in 25 towns of Pingwu.

About one million cubic meters of rock crumbled off mountains along the Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong route. In Xiangyan and Nanba towns, the worst-hit areas in Pingwu, the landslides blocked roads.

Excavating machinery was clearing up the sites, while residents along the Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong route were evacuated.

A government spokesman in Beichuan County said the aftershock had destroyed many houses but reports of exact casualties were not immediately available due to the damaged communication systems.

The first aftershock struck Wenchuan County, epicenter of the May 12 disaster, about six hours earlier and measured at 3.9 on the Richter scale, the local seismological department said.

Witnesses said houses shook notably when the tremor struck.

"The tremor, however, didn't last long. Before long, people began to hurry back into houses to work," said one witness surnamed Xiao.

Normal work at offices of the county government departments was not interrupted.

A total of 21,245 aftershocks have been detected since May 12. At least three powerful aftershocks hit the Sichuan quake area on July 24, killing two people and injuring dozens of others.