Aftershock damages, destroys almost 4,000 homes in NW China

Source: Xinhua | 05-28-2008 14:52

XI'AN, May 28 (Xinhua) -- A seismic aftershock that struck Ningqiang County of northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Tuesday left one person injured, 860 houses destroyed and 3,100 damaged, said a provincial government official.

As of 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, no other casualties or losses had been reported in other parts of Shaanxi, said a spokesman of the provincial emergency management office.

The 5.7-magnitude aftershock hit the county in Hanzhong City atabout 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

The province set up a quake relief headquarters in Hanzhong immediately after the tremor and ordered residents in neighboring counties to be evacuated from dilapidated houses or buildings withcracks.

The Shaanxi Provincial Seismological Bureau said that by 8:08 p.m. on Tuesday nine further tremors had been recorded.

Qingchuan County, in Sichuan Province, about 100 kilometers from Ningqiang, was also struck by a 5.4-magnitude aftershock at around 4:03 p.m. on Tuesday. More than 60 people were injured.

Qingchuan was also the epicenter of a 6.4-magnitude aftershock on Sunday afternoon, which was the strongest since the magnitude 8.0 earthquake centered on Sichuan's Wenchuan County on May 12.

The May 12 quake also leveled 44,000 houses and forced the evacuation of more than 1.6 million people in neighboring Hanzhong,with losses estimated at 4.53 billion yuan (647 million U.S. dollars).

The official death toll from the May 12 quake stands at 67,183.Another 361,822 people are reported injured and 20,790 missing, according to the Information Office of the State Council.

More than 45.61 million people were affected by the devastating quake, and about 15 million have been evacuated.

Editor:Xiong Qu