MODERATE EARTHQUAKE STRIKES CHINA...AT LEAST 10 DEAD

[AussieMark]

Earthquake in China Kills at Least 10

BEIJING - A strong earthquake (news - web sites) rumbled through a swath of western China's mountainous Xinjiang region Monday, killing at least 10 people and causing the collapse of hundreds of homes near the border with Kazakhstan, the government said.


Thirty-four people were reported injured and more than 700 houses fell, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The 6.1-magnitude quake, in the sparsely populated Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, hit at 9:38 a.m. local time Monday, Xinhua said. It said the quake was felt for many miles around.

"I was just getting up out of bed, and everything in my house was rattling. The wall was vibrating," said a resident of Zhaosu County, where the quake hit hard. He identified himself only as Mr. Wu. "Fortunately, my house is made out of brick, not wood and sand."

The Russian news agency ITAR-Tass said the tremor was felt in Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, about 100 miles west. It said there were no injuries or damage there.

At least 10 people were confirmed dead in Xinjiang as of early Monday afternoon, Xinhua said, adding that 34 were injured.

"Houses that were built in the 1960s and 1970s all collapsed," said an official at the Xinjiang Seismological Bureau who gave only his surname, Xie.

Xinhua said most of the collapsed houses, built more than three decades ago, were occupied by workers of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. The one-time military unit, similar to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was converted to a civilian construction and militia operation in 1954.

The U.S. Geological Service's National Earthquake Information Center in Colorado confirmed the tremor but said it was slightly less strong — magnitude 5.7.

Rescue teams were en route to the area, Xinhua said, and investigators for the State Seismological Bureau were also on the way.

"My house is alright, but there are other houses in our town that have collapsed," said Ha Lidan, a woman who lives in Zhaosu County.

Xinjiang, a seismically active area, was the site of the most lethal quake in China this year — a magnitude-6.8 temblor on Feb. 24 that killed 268 people.

China's deadliest earthquake in modern history struck the northeastern city of Tangshan on July 28, 1976, killing some 240,000 people. Its magnitude was measured at 7.8 to 8.2.

Though China's western regions are known for their earthquakes (news - web sites), the number of fatal quakes in recent months — at least a half-dozen — has been noteworthy.

Last week, a magnitude-5 earthquake struck a remote area of the southwestern province of Yunnan, injuring 20 people and knocking down two-thirds of the houses in an impoverished county. That quake was the fourth to hit Yunnan in the past five months. A tremor of magnitude-6.2 on July 21 killed 16 people.

[cycloneye]

Yes sad story there and when about big earthquakes is concerned those come without warning causing those kind of disasters.

[wx247]

How sad. I have said this time and time again -- these things scare me.