Live: China quake toll tops 54, several feared buried

1.48pm: Quake toll rises to 54 “The death toll from the deadly quake has risen to 54,” Xinhua quoted Gansu Earthquake Networks Center as saying. Some 21,000 rooms from 5,600 houses have been damaged, while 1,203 rooms collapsed in Zhangxian county. Cables were damaged, cutting telecommunications in Minxian county. Communication was cut off in 13 towns of Zhangxian County. Officials of with the Minxian County government said most of the townships in the county have been affected by the quake. The townships of Meichuan and Puma were seriously hit. There were also power outages, while cell phone and Internet coverage was disrupted, residents and state media reported. The Red Cross Society of China said it had sent relief supplies to the affected areas, including jackets and tents. “Many have been injured by collapsed houses,” said a Minxian county doctor surnamed Du. “Many villagers have gone to local hospitals along the roads.” Photos posted on Chinese social media showed roads on the sides of riverbanks that had subsided and farmhouses reduced to piles of red bricks. About 380 buildings had collapsed and 5,600 sustained damaged in Zhangxian county, the Dingxi municipal government said in a microblog post. From Reuters 12 pm: Toll climbs to 47, 300 injured As rescue operations start in China, the death count has gone from 11 to 47 in a matter of few hours. “The death toll from the deadly quake has risen to 47, with 296 injured,” Xinhua quoted Gansu Earthquake Networks Center as saying. Some 21,000 rooms from 5,600 houses have been damaged, while 1,203 rooms collapsed in Zhangxian county. Cables were damaged, cutting telecommunications in Minxian county. Communication was cut off in 13 towns of Zhangxian County. Officials of with the Minxian County government said most of the townships in the county have been affected by the quake. The townships of Meichuan and Puma were seriously hit. Many homes in the quake-hit region collapsed, according to the civil affairs bureau of the Dingxi City. The Red Cross Society of China has also dispatched a team of disaster relief workers, with 200 tents, 1,000 family emergency kits and 2,000 cotton-padded jackets. 11 am: At least 22 people were killed and 300 others injured today after a 6.6-magnitude strong earthquake ripped through China’s northwestern Gansu Province, local authorities said. The quake shook the area at 7:45 a.m. (local time) at the junction of the Minxian County and Zhangxian County, the Gansu Provincial Seismological Bureau said. The epicenter, with a depth of 20 km, was 170 km away from the provincial capital Lanzhou, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted officials as saying. A 5.6-magnitude quake jolted the same area later at 9:12 am, the agency said. The victims include 19 in Minxian County, two in Zhangxian County in the city of Dingxi and Lixian County in the city of Longnan, according to the officials. [caption id=“attachment_974971” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representative image. AFP.[/caption] Communication was cut off in 13 towns of Zhangxian County. Officials of with the Minxian County government said most of the townships in the county have been affected by the quake. The townships of Meichuan and Puma were seriously hit. Many homes in the quake-hit region collapsed, according to the civil affairs bureau of the Dingxi City. The locals in Minxian County said strong tremor was felt in the area and they saw trees and homes were shaking. They also said that the quake lasted for about one minute. Soldiers, police and more than 300 local militiamen have been dispatched to the quake-hit region to help with rescue efforts. The provincial civil affairs department has sent 500 tents and 2,000 quilts to the quake-hit region. Lanzhou Railway Bureau has started the emergency response to guarantee the safety of railway bridges and communication equipment in the province. Light to moderate rain and partly heavy rain were forecast in Dingxi city, according to the provincial meteorological station, which would affect the rescue efforts. Meanwhile, the earthquake was also felt in Tianshui city and the provincial capital city of Lanzhou besides in the cities of Xi’an, Baoji and Xianyang in neighboring Shaanxi Province. PTI