China Quake Toll May be Worse Than Feared
The earthquake that struck Panzhihua, Sichuan and surrounding areas has killed at least 28 people and destroyed 100,000 homes, state media is reporting. From the New York Times:
The earthquake, which was centered in Sichuan Province and had a magnitude of 6.1, damaged highways, reservoirs, bridges and hundreds of schools, and it forced the evacuation of more than 40,000 people in Sichuan and neighboring Yunnan Province, reported Xinhua, the state news agency. More than 230 people were reported injured.
[...] On Sunday afternoon, a strong aftershock, with a preliminary magnitude of 5.1, was reported in Sichuan, but it was unclear whether there was any new damage, Chinese officials said.
Over the weekend, poor communication in the southern part of Sichuan was making it difficult for the government and news agencies to determine the scale of the damage or how many people had died.
The earthquake struck at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, according to the state-run news media, and was centered near the city of Panzhihua, in the southern part of Sichuan, far south of the May 12 earthquake. The China Earthquake Administration ordered an emergency response to the area after early reports of heavy damage in some places.
