CHENGDU, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Three aftershocks that jolted southwest
China's Sichuan Province on Thursday had left one dead, 17 injured and about
1,200 houses destroyed as of 5 p.m..
According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, three tremors measuring
5.6, 4.9 and 6.0, respectively, on the Richter Scale hit the juncture of
Ningqiang County, Shaanxi Province and Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province early
Thursday morning and in the afternoon. They were felt in the cities of
Guangyuan, Chengdu, Mianyang, Deyang and Leshan of Sichuan Province.
The center also monitored several aftershocks below magnitude 4.0, but no
specific number was made available.
In the Lizhou District of Guangyuan, a 60-year-old woman died of a cerebral
haemorrhage after she panicked during the strong tremors. A 24-year-old man was
seriously injured after jumping from a two-story building in a panic.
In Chaotian District, the aftershocks left 14 people injured, five
severely. The disaster also demolished 45 houses.
In Qingchuan County, two people were injured and more than 3,000 others
were evacuated.
According to the latest information from the disaster relief headquarters
in Qingchuan, 140,000 houses collapsed and another 1,500 houses were damaged.
Most of the collapsed houses were ramshackle ones after the May 12 earthquake.
As of Thursday, Qingchuan has survived 18,000 aftershocks, 42 of them above
magnitude 4.0, nine above magnitude 5.0 and three above magnitude 6.0.
The Sichuan provincial earthquake bureau has sent two working teams to the
stricken area. Rescue operation and investigation of the disaster situation are
under way.
The death toll from the May 12 earthquake that jolted Sichuan Province and
its neighboring regions stood at 69,197 as of Thursday noon. The number of
people listed as missing and injured were 18,209 and 374,176 respectively, the
State Council Information Office said in a statement.