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CHINA NEWSUpdated April 20, 2013, 8:09 a.m. ET.Quake Kills More Than 100 in Sichuan .
By JOSH CHIN
BEIJING—A strong earthquake killed at least 113 people and injured hundreds more Saturday, state media said, striking an area roughly 50 miles from the epicenter of the devastating 2008 quake that killed some 80,000.
Saturday's quake struck China's southwestern Sichuan province—in Lushan county near the city of Ya'an—just after 8 a.m. with a magnitude of 7.0, according to the China Earthquakes Network Center. The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 6.6, downgraded from an initial reading of 6.9.
"My first response was 'I am going to die,' " said Li Zhizhu, one of a group of university students from the provincial capital of Chengdu who were traveling in the countryside outside Ya'an. He said he was asleep in a lodge when the quake struck and woke to see tiles falling from the ceiling. "It was very scary. There were aftershocks every few minutes. We had no phone reception and people were crying."
More
Photos: Strong Quake Hits Sichuan
CRT: Baby Born in Quake Zone CRT: Red Cross Gets Thumbs Down
Hundreds of people were injured in the quake, according to state media reports. The death toll rose steadily throughout the day, suggesting it would grow.
Criticized for being slow and opaque in their handling of previous disasters, Chinese authorities were quick to announce the mobilization of rescue teams. The People's Liberation Army dispatched 2,000 soldiers and two helicopters to the region from the nearby Chengdu Military Area Command, according to state media. The paramilitary People's Armed Police had dispatched nearly 4,000 officers and soldiers with heavy machinery, including loaders and excavators, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in the quake-struck area Saturday afternoon, state media said. "The current most urgent issue is grasping the first 24 hours since the quake's occurrence, the golden time for saving lives, to take scientific rescue measures and save peoples' lives," state media quoted Mr. Li as saying.
The quake caused houses to collapse along a street in Ya'an and sent rocks tumbling into vehicles, Xinhua said, adding that patients were being treated on the ground in front of the Lushan County Hospital. People reported feeling tremors in the provincial capital of Chengdu, 70 miles to the northeast.
Ya'an has a population of 1.5 million and is home to a giant panda breeding center. The pandas housed in Ya'an include 40 that were moved there after the 2008 quake damaged the main panda research base in Wolong.
Saturday's quake rekindled memories of the 2008 earthquake, which measured 7.9 and ranks among the most destructive natural disasters in recent Chinese history. Farmers alone suffered an estimated $6 billion in damage. China's response at the time was widely criticized as soldiers and rescue workers struggled to reach the worst-hit areas. Accusations of fraud in the handling of donations by the Red Cross Society of China and allegations of attempts to suppress information about the widespread collapse of school buildings also marred the government's reputation in the wake of the disaster.
Photos posted online by semi-official China News Service showed hundreds of residents gathered in the streets after the quake, some clothed in pajamas or wrapped in bedding. Other images showed collapsed buildings, streets littered with debris and groups of people, many of them elderly, being treated in mobile medical tents.
The greatest damage occurred in the countryside outside Ya'an, with older houses in one village completely collapsing, Xinhua quoted Jin Zelin, an official with the provincial armed police, as saying. "More than 95% of the houses in the village are not fit for living in," he said, according to Xinhua.
The student, Mr. Li, said he and the other students were initially trapped in the mountains after the quake caused a bridge to collapse but were on their way back to Chengdu after their university sent shuttles to pick them up. The 20-year-old said he experienced the 2008 quake while a middle school student in Chengdu, but that Saturday was different because of his proximity to the epicenter.
"We were surrounded by mountains," he said. "We were very worried that if it started raining, there could be landslides."
Saturday's quake occurred along the Longmenshan fault line, which was also the source the 2008 quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The China Earthquake Networks Center said it had recorded 264 aftershocks, two of which topped 5.0 in magnitude, since the original quake struck.
China's central Air Force Command sent two reconnaissance planes from Beijing to take aerial photographs of the area, state media said, adding that 2,600 soldiers from the People's Armed Police had already arrived in six towns in the quake zone.
One soldier was killed and seven others injured in a traffic accident on their way to Ya'an, Xinhua reported. Photos showed the soldiers' vehicle upside down in a river.
—Fanfan Wang contributed to this article.
CHINA NEWSUpdated April 20, 2013, 8:09 a.m. ET.Quake Kills More Than 100 in Sichuan .
By JOSH CHIN
BEIJING—A strong earthquake killed at least 113 people and injured hundreds more Saturday, state media said, striking an area roughly 50 miles from the epicenter of the devastating 2008 quake that killed some 80,000.
Saturday's quake struck China's southwestern Sichuan province—in Lushan county near the city of Ya'an—just after 8 a.m. with a magnitude of 7.0, according to the China Earthquakes Network Center. The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 6.6, downgraded from an initial reading of 6.9.
"My first response was 'I am going to die,' " said Li Zhizhu, one of a group of university students from the provincial capital of Chengdu who were traveling in the countryside outside Ya'an. He said he was asleep in a lodge when the quake struck and woke to see tiles falling from the ceiling. "It was very scary. There were aftershocks every few minutes. We had no phone reception and people were crying."
More
Photos: Strong Quake Hits Sichuan
CRT: Baby Born in Quake Zone CRT: Red Cross Gets Thumbs Down
Hundreds of people were injured in the quake, according to state media reports. The death toll rose steadily throughout the day, suggesting it would grow.
Criticized for being slow and opaque in their handling of previous disasters, Chinese authorities were quick to announce the mobilization of rescue teams. The People's Liberation Army dispatched 2,000 soldiers and two helicopters to the region from the nearby Chengdu Military Area Command, according to state media. The paramilitary People's Armed Police had dispatched nearly 4,000 officers and soldiers with heavy machinery, including loaders and excavators, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in the quake-struck area Saturday afternoon, state media said. "The current most urgent issue is grasping the first 24 hours since the quake's occurrence, the golden time for saving lives, to take scientific rescue measures and save peoples' lives," state media quoted Mr. Li as saying.
The quake caused houses to collapse along a street in Ya'an and sent rocks tumbling into vehicles, Xinhua said, adding that patients were being treated on the ground in front of the Lushan County Hospital. People reported feeling tremors in the provincial capital of Chengdu, 70 miles to the northeast.
Ya'an has a population of 1.5 million and is home to a giant panda breeding center. The pandas housed in Ya'an include 40 that were moved there after the 2008 quake damaged the main panda research base in Wolong.
Saturday's quake rekindled memories of the 2008 earthquake, which measured 7.9 and ranks among the most destructive natural disasters in recent Chinese history. Farmers alone suffered an estimated $6 billion in damage. China's response at the time was widely criticized as soldiers and rescue workers struggled to reach the worst-hit areas. Accusations of fraud in the handling of donations by the Red Cross Society of China and allegations of attempts to suppress information about the widespread collapse of school buildings also marred the government's reputation in the wake of the disaster.
Photos posted online by semi-official China News Service showed hundreds of residents gathered in the streets after the quake, some clothed in pajamas or wrapped in bedding. Other images showed collapsed buildings, streets littered with debris and groups of people, many of them elderly, being treated in mobile medical tents.
The greatest damage occurred in the countryside outside Ya'an, with older houses in one village completely collapsing, Xinhua quoted Jin Zelin, an official with the provincial armed police, as saying. "More than 95% of the houses in the village are not fit for living in," he said, according to Xinhua.
The student, Mr. Li, said he and the other students were initially trapped in the mountains after the quake caused a bridge to collapse but were on their way back to Chengdu after their university sent shuttles to pick them up. The 20-year-old said he experienced the 2008 quake while a middle school student in Chengdu, but that Saturday was different because of his proximity to the epicenter.
"We were surrounded by mountains," he said. "We were very worried that if it started raining, there could be landslides."
Saturday's quake occurred along the Longmenshan fault line, which was also the source the 2008 quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The China Earthquake Networks Center said it had recorded 264 aftershocks, two of which topped 5.0 in magnitude, since the original quake struck.
China's central Air Force Command sent two reconnaissance planes from Beijing to take aerial photographs of the area, state media said, adding that 2,600 soldiers from the People's Armed Police had already arrived in six towns in the quake zone.
One soldier was killed and seven others injured in a traffic accident on their way to Ya'an, Xinhua reported. Photos showed the soldiers' vehicle upside down in a river.
—Fanfan Wang contributed to this article.
