A strong earthquake jolted southwest China's Yunnan
Province early Tuesday morning, leaving 12 people injured, one
of them critically.?
The earthquake, measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale, struck at
6:11 AM. The epicenter was at Hanzhuang Town, about ten kilometers
from the densely populated city of Baoshan and 580 kilometers west
of the provincial capital of Kunming.
The temblor shook the downtown and suburban areas, including
Changning, Shidian, Tengchong and Longling counties.
Local officials said that more than 20,000 houses were damaged
or destroyed by the quake and 20 schools forced to suspend classes,
affecting about 1,000 students.
By 10:00 PM Tuesday, tents had been sent to some victims,
traffic had resumed and the communication system was under
repair.
Yunnan is among the provinces most severely affected by
this year's floods, hail and mudslides, which have already left
thousands homeless.
(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn October 20, 2004)
