China troops in rescue mission after Yunnan quake

Provincial officials have declared a top-level emergency, with 3,200 troops dispatched in a “race to save more lives”, following a strong earthquake in southwest China’s mountainous Yunnan province that killed one person, and left more than 300 injured. An additional 600 professional rescuers with sniffer dogs have also been sent to the quake zone. The shallow 6.0 magnitude quake hit late Tuesday in a region that lies close to China’s borders with Myanmar and Laos, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The official Xinhua news agency quoted local officials as saying more than 92,000 people in Jinggu were affected and that 56,880 of them had been relocated.

The whole building was shaking terribly with a loud cracking sound. Plates fell off in the kitchen. We all ran out and the streets are now packed with people.

Li Anqin, a woman living in Weiyuan town, the county seat of Jinggu

Photos on social media showed damaged houses, cracked walls and fallen roof tiles, and crowds of people gathered outside into the night. The epicentre of the quake was in a densely-populated but underdeveloped area home to various ethnic minorities, according to Xinhua. Yunnan is acutely vulnerable to earthquakes. The region sees frequent seismic activity from the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, which form the vast Himalaya mountain range. In August, a 6.1-magnitude struck the province, killing more than 600 people and injuring more than 3,000. Rescuers arriving on the scene early Wednesday said the destruction did not initially appear to be on the massive scale of the August quake.

It’s not like last time in Ludian - there are no massive collapse of buildings. It’s such a relief.

Rescue chief Chen Xianhe

Asia-Pacific