Chinese state media: Major quake kills 4 students

• IBTimes RSS
• Print
• E-Mail
• digg
• Del.icio.us

The temblor, which was felt as far away as Vietnam and Thailand, injured more than 100 students in Chongqing in central China, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The quake struck 60 miles northwest of the Sichhuan provincial capital of Chengdu at 2:28 p.m., the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site. It said the quake was centered 6.2 miles below the surface. The area has a population of about 110,000 residents, according to Xinhua. Chongqing is next to Sichuan.

The government in Aba prefecture in Sichuan province said buildings had cracked and collapsed and mountain roads were damaged. Thousands of people were evacuated from buildings in Beijing, some 900 miles from the epicenter.

Premier Wen Jiabao was headed to the epicenter, Xinhua said.

Calls to emergency response numbers in Chengdu rang busy. A resident reached by phone in Chengdu said people flooded from buildings, but there was no sign of damage or injuries.

According to the joint UN-European Commission's Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, or GDAC, the quake struck in a sparsely populated area, but only about 50 miles from Chengdu. The city and surrounding areas are home to about 10 million people.

An earthquake of this magnitude can cause damage as far away as 60 miles from the epicenter, it said.

GDAC said a quake this strong could have a "high humanitarian impact" and spark deadly landslides.

In the Chinese capital Beijing, about 930 miles away, buildings swayed for more than two minutes but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

• 1
• 2