Members of a medical rescue team prepare to set out in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, June 1, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
BEIJING / CHENGDU – A level-III national emergency response has been activated after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit southwest China's Sichuan province and left at least 4 people dead, the Ministry of Emergency Management said Wednesday.
The earthquake rattled Lushan county of Ya'an City at 5:00 pm Wednesday (Beijing Time). The epicenter, with a depth of 17 km, was monitored at 30.37 degrees north latitude and 102.94 degrees east longitude, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.
The earthquake rattled Lushan county of Ya'an City at 5:00 pm Wednesday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center
A work team has been dispatched to guide and assist the local emergency rescue efforts, the ministry said.
Local firefighters have reached the epicenter, while quake rescue teams of Sichuan and other neighboring regions are on standby for relief operations, the ministry added.
Four people have been confirmed dead and 14 others were injured after the earthquake hit, according to Ya'an's earthquake relief headquarters.
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The earthquake was followed by a 4.5-magnitude quake at 5:03 pm in Baoxing county, also in Ya'an.
As of 7:40 pm Wednesday, all the casualties were reported in Baoxing, the city's earthquake relief headquarters said, adding that the four people who died were hit by falling rocks, while the injured have been sent to hospital for treatment.
Telecommunication in parts of the two counties was damaged due to the quake, but some optical cables have been restored after emergency repairs.
Ya'an has activated the second-highest level of emergency response for the earthquake and is conducting damage assessments.
More than 4,500 people from emergency rescue, the armed police, the fire department, the medical sector and other departments were dispatched to the earthquake-hit areas to search for and rescue the injured, repair roads and relocate affected residents.
The provincial earthquake administration said that the 6.1-magnitude earthquake of Lushan was an aftershock of a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit the county in 2013.
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Members of a medical rescue team prepare to set out in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province, June 1, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA)