Quake toll 188 as rescue efforts hit by aftershocks
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E-mail China.org.cn, April 22, 2013
Continual aftershocks and insufficient relief supplies are hampering the rescue efforts in southwest China's Sichuan, 36 hours after a powerful earthquake hit the province.
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Medical staff from Peking University No. 3 Hospital treat a woman injured in the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan Province at the Ya'an No. 2 People's Hospital yesterday. |
The latest statistics show that at least 188 people have been confirmed dead and more than 1.5 million affected as of last night.
Rescuers are racing against the "critical first 72 hours after the disaster" to comb the quake rubble and reach every household in the epicenter of Lushan and its neighboring counties affected by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that jolted the city of Ya'an early on Saturday.
Over 1,700 aftershocks had been monitored in Lushan as of 10pm, with the strongest measuring 5.4-magnitude, making the already ramshackle houses even more dangerous and the rescue efforts more life-threatening.
A rescue excavator plunged off a 300-meter deep cliff yesterday morning in Ya'an's quake-hit Baoxing County.
The number of casualties remained unknown last night.
As of 5pm, traffic had resumed on the road linking Baoxing to its neighboring counties of Lushan and Xiaojin and the city of Dujiangyan, resuming transportation of the stranded relief supplies to the county after its 33 hours' post-quake isolation, according to Sichuan's transportation department.
The road is dubbed as the relief "lifeline" by rescuers.
Several rescue teams managed to reach Baoxing, which has a population of 60,000 and had remained hard to access after the quake. At least 26 residents have been confirmed dead with another 2,500 injured as of yesterday morning, according to county head Ma Jun.
"The top priority is to save lives," said Ma. "Meanwhile, we'll resettle the residents and reopen roads."
A total of 40,000 Baoxing residents are waiting to be relocated as most houses in Lingguan Township and Daxi Village in the county have suffered damage.
Airborne remote sensing images showed that more than 60 percent of buildings in the county seat had suffered damage.
Power supplies have been restored in only a few villages in Baoxing, the most part of which is still shrouded in darkness.
"The Lushan County center is getting back to normal, but the need is still considerable in terms of shelter and materials," Kevin Xia of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told Reuters.
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