Death toll rises to three in aftershock in southwest China

Authorities in southwest China on Friday confirmed two more people were killed in Thursday's 5.9-magnitude tremor, bringing the death toll to three.

Officials with the government of Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, did not disclose the identities of those killed.

Gu Zhongshou, a deputy with the publicity department of prefectural committee of the Communist Party of China , said about 100 people were injured when the quake struck at 8:24 p.m. in Yingjiang county.

Most of the injured, including 20 seriously hurt, were treated at the People's Hospital of Yingjiang Count, said Gu.

Power and telecommunications networks were cut in the main districts of the county, but some of the stricken areas had electricity back by 10:20 p.m. on Thursday.

The epicenter was monitored at 24.9 degrees north and 97.8 degrees east. And injuries with 20 of them were severe.

A document posted at the website of the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that as of 8 a.m. on Friday, 120,000 people had been forced to evacuate their homes since the Thursday tremor.

An earlier tremor, measuring 5 on the Richter scale, struck the county at 5:35 a.m. on Wednesday, with the epicenter monitored at Sudian Township, 46 km from Yingjiang county seat.

More than 110 aftershocks of up to 3.6 on the Richter scale had been recorded as of 6 p.m. on Thursday.

The livelihoods of more than 14,000 people were affected and 3,400 others were evacuated after Wednesday's tremor. No one had been reported injured.

The tremor destroyed six homes and damaged 4,056 others in the county. Most of the damaged structures were in a dangerous state.

It also damaged 17 school buildings, 28 dormitories and some communication facilities.

The Civil Affairs Ministry sent a special working group to assess the situation and offer assistance in the quake zone.

It also allocated 5,000 tents from the disaster relief reserve of the central government.

In total, 2,500 people, including police and government officials, participated in the rescue effort. The local government had allocated 100,000 yuan for disaster relief.

The affected area has a population density of 45 people per square km and lies at an average altitude of 2,000 meters.

Source: Xinhua