6.5 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Xinjiang, China
So far 4 deaths and 48 injuries have been reported
By Rohini Rajaratnam — 03 Jul 2015, 05:52 PM
An earthquake measuring at 6.5 magnitude on the Ritcher scale hit the western region of Xinjiang this morning
The shallow quake struck 160 km (100 miles) northwest of the region's southern city of Hotan near Guma county at a depth of 10 km (6 miles), the USGS said. Guma is a poor and largely agricultural area, with a population of over 200,000, mostly ethnic Muslim Uighurs.
reuters.com
The quake was initially reported at various magnitudes up to 6.5. Several aftershocks were reported, the strongest measuring magnitude 4.8, according to the U.S. Geological Survey
So far it has been reported at least four people were killed and more than 48 injured in the quake. However, search and rescue teams are still in the process of recovering bodies.
"Currently, the earthquake has resulted in four deaths, including a father and son, and more than 38 injuries," China National Emergency Broadcasting (CNEB) said on it's website.
"If many people are gathered in one place during an earthquake, it can lead to a serious disaster, but in this case, there were relatively few people so it isn't so serious," China Earthquake Networks Centre researcher Sun Shihong told state broadcaster China Central Television.
reuters.com
Residents of the region expressed shock at the intensity of the quake on social media, although authorities said they were optimistic the death toll would not be high
Chinese microblog users who claimed to be at the location of the quake expressed shock at its strength. "The buildings are all shaking, and there are people everywhere outside," wrote one user of microblogging service Weibo.
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Li Hua, a worker at a state-owned farm in Pishan, told Xinhua News that he was left dizzied by a jolt that shook the floor of his fourth-floor home and lasted about a minute.
The China Earthquake Administration (CEA) issued a level-II emergency response to the quake and has also closed the airport in Hotan temporarily
There have been eight earthquakes in the area since the beginning of the year, according to data from Earthquake Track
China is regularly hit by earthquakes, particularly in its southwestern provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan.
In May 2008, a 7.9 magnitude quake rocked Sichuan, killing more than 80,000 people and flattening swathes of the province in China's worst earthquake for more than three decades.