Four people have been confirmed dead in an earthquake in southwest
China's Yunnan Province, according to local sources.
A
total of 594 people were injured, and 167 of them seriously, in the
quake which jolted Ludian county in Zhaotong City of Yunnan Tuesday
night, according to Deng Xianpei, mayor of Zhaotong city.
The quake, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale, also left 126,234
locals homeless, as a total of 18,556 houses collapsed and another
65,601 houses were left with cracks or damages.
It
was the third major quake that hit the Ludian County in a year. Two
other quakes measuring 5.1 and 5.0 on the Richter scales struck the
county on Nov. 15 and 26, 2003. Four people were killed and 120
others were injured in the two previous quakes.
With a population of 370,000, Ludian County, located in the east of
Yunnan province, is among China's abject poverty counties.
(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2004)
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