Twelve Killed, 164 Injured After 7.0-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Sichuan Province
YG Staff
DATE:  Aug 09 2017
/ SOURCE:  
Twelve Killed, 164 Injured After 7.0-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Sichuan Province Twelve Killed, 164 Injured After 7.0-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Sichuan Province

(Yicai Global) Aug. 9 -- Six tourists are among the at-least twelve people killed after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan province in southwest China yesterday, injuring at least 175 others.

The quake's epicenter was 10-kilometers deep in a sparsely populated area near Aba Prefecture's Jiuzhaigou National Park, a popular tourism destination, according to the US Geological Survey. Over 31,500 travelers were evacuated to a safe location, state-owned news agency Xinhua reported.

The China Earthquake Administration began level-I emergency response procedures yesterday, the highest of the four response levels.

Electricity has been mostly restored in the affected areas and the military helped with relief efforts, a state broadcaster reported, adding that Jiuzhaigou airport was operating as normal after the runway had been checked for damage.

Jiuzhaigou National Park is more popular among domestic tourists than foreigners, but at least one foreign traveler is among the injured, Xinhua reported. Hong Kong's immigration department has been unsuccessful in attempts to contact three of their citizens traveling in the area.

Yesterday's earthquake isn't the only recent natural disaster in the province. In 2008, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan just 80 kilometers from the provincial capital of Chengdu, killing over 69,000 and injuring nearly 375,000.

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Keywords:   Earthquake