Dual earthquakes take toll on Yunnan

Villagers receive food at a shelter after two separate magnitude 5.0 earthquakes jolted Sijie township, Tonghai county, in Yunnan province on Monday and Tuesday. Eighteen people were reported injured and more than 33,000 evacuated, local authorities said. YANG ZHENG/FOR CHINA DAILY

Eighteen people were injured and more than 33,000 evacuated after two separate magnitude-5 earthquakes jolted the same area in Yunnan province on Monday and Tuesday, local authorities said.

As of Tuesday morning, the quakes had affected almost 70,000 residents in Tonghai and neighboring Huaning counties, as well as in Jiangchuan district, all administered by Yuxi.

More than 8,000 homes were damaged, though none of them collapsed, according to a statement from the provincial disaster relief authorities.

The epicenter of the latest quake, at a depth of 6 kilometers, was monitored in Sijie township, Tonghai, at 3:50 am on Tuesday. The previous earthquake, with an epicenter at 7 km deep, struck the township at 1:44 am on Monday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The center also said 15 earthquakes above magnitude-2, including the two at magnitude-5, had occurred in the area as of 9 am on Tuesday.

Local authorities said in a statement on Tuesday morning that no new casualties were reported after the second quake, as many residents had been evacuated.

"We have been at an emergency shelter since Monday because we fear more quakes. In the morning, the new quake was so strong that it woke us all up," said Zhu Feng, a resident in an emergency shelter in Tonghai.

"Stuff in my office started shaking. I heard a bang, and then the drinking fountain fell," said Chang Li, a nurse at the county's orthopedic hospital, recalling the Monday quake.

Chang rushed to her home and found her mother had been partially buried in the debris of their house damaged by the quake. "Police and medical staff helped send her to the hospital," Chang said.

Provincial disaster relief authorities have sent tents, folding beds, bedding and food for affected residents.

While the operations of two trains were suspended on Monday, the quake on Tuesday only brought delays of a few trains. Operations resumed at around 8 am, the authorities said.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

Editor: John Li