Magnitude-5 Quake Shakes China, 18 Injured, 6000 Homes Damaged

Magnitude-5 Quake Shakes China, 18 Injured, 6000 Homes Damaged

(FASTNEWS|COLOMBO) Eighteen people were injured after a moderate earthquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale jolted southwest China’s Yunnan Province, local authorities have said.

The quake damaged over 6,000 homes and affected more than 48,000 residents in Tonghai and Huaning counties and in the district of Jiangchuan, all administered by the city of Yuxi, the provincial civil affairs department said in a statement. The injured are being treated in a hospital and are said to be in a stable condition.

The epicentre of the quake which struck yesterday was at a depth of seven kilometres, China Earthquake Networks Centre said. “Stuff in my office started shaking. I heard a bang, and then the drinking fountain fell,” Chang Li, a nurse with the county’s orthopedic hospital in Tonghai, was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.