Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit Jinggu and neighboring counties in Yunnan last night. The official figures report one dead and 324 wounded, eight of whom are in a critical condition. But eyewitness accounts say that there are at least five dead and their number is expected to rise as rescuers reach the affected areas.
In the town of Yongping some houses have collapsed, but
most of them are standing. Many people, fearing the collapse of the houses in
aftershocks, slept outside in tents or in the parks.
According to Xinhua, last night 13 thousand houses were damaged; 7 thousand have
collapsed, causing problems for about 93 thousand inhabitants in the county, 400 km southeast of Kunming, the provincial
capital. So far 56880 people have been evacuated.
There has been severe damage to infrastructure: 36 bridges
have collapsed and the Changhai dam, near Yongping, has a 5-8 cm wide crack.
Overnight the army has sent more than 1,000 soldiers and medical personnel; 1,000
provincial police have also arrived in the affected area.
Until 8 o'clock this morning there were more than 200 aftershocks,
some of them of magnitude 4 and 4.9.
The region of Yunnan is an earthquake zone. Last August there were two
other earthquakes that have caused the death of 600 people.