Earthquake ‘Kills 180’ In South –West China

Odogwuemekaodogwu.blogspot.com reports that at least 180 people have been killed and scores more injured after a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck in south-west China, state media say.



Search teams were trying to reach remote areas isolated by landslides after Saturday's magnitude-6.6 quake, the official Xinhua news agency said.
It said the quake damaged nearly every home in Baoxing county, with a population of 58,000, including houses built after a magnitude-8.0 quake in 1980 that killed about 70,000 people.
Premier Li Keqiang visited the area to oversee relief efforts.
Many residents spent the night outdoors, short of food, water, clothing and tents, for fear of returning to their ramshackle homes for supplies amid constant aftershocks, Yonhap said.

Meanwhile the US Geological Survey said the quake struck about 11km (7 miles) north-west of Wenping in Yunnan province at 16:30 local time (08:30 GMT).
One local official told Xinhua news agency that many houses had collapsed.
State broadcaster CCTV said the earthquake was the strongest to hit the province in 14 years.
All of the casualties reported so far are in Qiaojia County of the Zhaotong region, which appeared to be the hardest hit.
After initial reports of a death toll of 26, Xinhua reported that the number killed had risen sharply, to 180.
The news agency says the epicentre of the earthquake was in Longtoushan in Yunnan's Ludian county.
Chen Guoyong, the head of Longtoushan township, told Xinhua that many houses had fallen and rescuers had been sent to the epicentre.
Many people rushed out of buildings onto the street after the quake hit, electricity supplies were cut and at least one school collapsed, Xinhua reports.
The USGS said the quake struck at a depth of about 10km.
In 1970, a magnitude 7.7 quake in Yunnan killed at least 15,000 people.