The magnitude 6.8 earthquake registered this Monday in the central province of sichuanin Chinaleaves 74 dead so far, official media reported this Wednesday.
There is a total of 26 missing Y the number of injured rose to 259according to the agency Xinhua.
The latest official tally was 65 recorded deaths as of 7 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
Among the deceased, 40 were counted in the prefecture of ganziin which the epicenter of the earthquake was located, and 34 in the municipal term of the city of Ya’an.
This Tuesday, 50,000 people in the area had been evacuated.
According to him China Earthquake Network Centerthe telluric movement occurred at 12:52 local time (04:52 GMT) this Monday at a depth of 16 kilometers and had its epicenter in the county of Ludingin the prefecture of ganzilocated about 200 kilometers from the provincial capital, chengduof more than 20 million inhabitants.
According to the scale used by local seismological authorities, a magnitude 6 earthquake means that most affected people cannot stand stably during the quake and cracks in the walls and the collapse of tiles and chimneys can occur.
Until the local morning of Tuesday, ten aftershocks of a magnitude equal to or greater than 3 had been registered, one of which reached 4.2, the authorities reported.
This is the most intense earthquake since 2017 in the province of sichuanwhich is located in an area with frequent seismic activity and which was already the scene of a catastrophic earthquake in May 2008, with a magnitude of 8 degrees and which left more than 90,000 dead and missing.
Local seismologists quoted by the Global Times newspaper explained that the epicenter, located in the county of Ludingand the surrounding regions will have to prepare for possible “secondary disasters” such as landslides as a result of the tremor in the coming days or even years.
China has mobilized more than 6,500 members of rescue forces, including soldiers, firefighters and medics, and nine helicopters to help rescue efforts.
Likewise, the China National Space Administration activated a civil emergency response mechanism and arranged for ten satellites to take images of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake to provide more information to the rescue forces, local media reported.
Authorities reported that the quake and its aftershocks damaged some roads, making it difficult for rescuers to access some of the worst-affected areas.
The Chinese Ministries of Finance and Emergency Management have earmarked 50 million yuan ($7.25 million) to support rescue and relief efforts.
Sichuan has suffered in the last five years 455 earthquakes of a magnitude equal to or greater than 3 and five earthquakes of magnitude 6, the same as the earthquake that occurred on Monday.
(With information from EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com