Shockingly, several hundred people have been left injured and at least 30 confirmed dead as a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hits an area of China's southwestern Sichuan province on Saturday morning, as a result of which the authorities fearing that the number of casualties could continue to rise considering the impact of the earthquake which was felt in at least five provinces.
Furthermore, according to the local authorities, hundreds of people were left "injured or dead" after the earthquake struck the city of Ya'an, in Lushan county around 140 kilometres from the bustling provincial capital Chengdu, at 5.32 am IST. Based on the photographs posted on Chinese social media websites, the impact was strong enough to bring dozens of Chengdu residents to the street.
In fact, the official China Central Television (CCTV) said at least 30 people had been confirmed to be killed and more than 400 injured as of 9 am IST. Now, the authorities fear the number of dead and injured could rise quickly through the day considering the impact of the earthquake, which left buildings of even three and four floors reduced to piles of rough fragments, according to online photographs.
According to the military sources, more than 2,000 soldiers have already been disposed to assist in recovery efforts.
The earthquake hits a part of the province not far from where a devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake, five years ago, left at least 90,000 people dead or missing. The 2008 earthquake reduced entire towns to rough fragments. The recovery process has been difficult, with the government pouring billions of dollars into reconstruction projects in towns and counties not far from where Saturday's earthquake struck.
To move further, according to Chinese media, the city of Ya'an was also badly affected by the 2008 earthquake, and, like surrounding towns and counties, was only beginning to turn the page over the last disaster when Saturday's earthquake struck resulting with tens of thousands of people were left homeless in Ya'an five years ago.
The 7.0-magnitude earthquake known to have struck the city at 5.32 am IST with an epicenter of 13 km depth. Moreover, the U.S. Geological Survey recorded the magnitude as 6.6, the Associated Press reported, with the 13 km depth seen as shallow enough to magnify the impact.
As a concluding fact, the impact was powerful enough to rattle buildings in Chendgu, more than 140 km away, and to have been felt in surrounding provinces of Guizhou, Gansu, Shaanxi and Yunnan. A Chengdu resident told Xinhua his building shook for 20 seconds, and he saw “tiles fall off nearby buildings” while it also said at least four aftershocks were felt, the largest recorded as 5.1-magnitude.
No one has control over natural disaster, we have no choice but accept it openheartedly even if one has to die.
(AW:Samrat Biswas)
