STRONG QUAKE HITS CHINA

ചൈനയില്‍ ഭൂചലനത്തില്‍

നൂറിലേറെ പേര്‍മരിച്ചു 

20-04-2013

Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds injured in a powerful earthquake in rural areas of China's south-western province of Sichuan.The 6.6-magnitude quake wrecked buildings, cut power and blocked roads in Lushan county, killing more than 100 and injuring hundreds, officials say.Rescuers are struggling to get through to the worst-affected areas because of aftershocks and landslides.

At least 102 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured as a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck an area of China’s south-western Sichuan province on ,20^th April,2013,Saturday morning, with authorities fearing the number of casualties could continue to rise considering the impact of the earthquake which was felt in at least five provinces.The earthquake struck the city of Ya’an, in Lushan county, around 140 kilometres from the bustling provincial capital Chengdu, at 8.02 am local time (5.32 am IST). The impact was strong enough to bring dozens of Chengdu residents to the streets, according to photographs posted on Chinese social media websites.The official Xinhua news agency said, citing provincial authorities, that at least 102 people have been confirmed killed and at least 1,000 others injured, as of 3 pm IST, with the number expected to increase as relief work continues to clear rubble from collapsed buildings in Lushan’s towns and cities. More than 500 people have been injured in Lushan and 135 of them were in a serious condition, according to Le Zhiyong, deputy head of the Lushan County hospital.

More than 2,000 soldiers have already been dispatched to assist in recovery efforts, military sources told Xinhua. However, landslides had blocked access in several places and two barrier lakes caused by the earthquake were “posing risks for rescue efforts”, Xinhua said.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was expected to have arrived in the provincial capital Chengdu on Saturday afternoon, and is likely to visit quake-hit areas in Lushan.The earthquake struck 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 China Earthquake Administration (CEA) said the quake “originated in the Longmenshan fracture zone”, where 12 earthquakes of 5-magnitude or greater, including the 2008 earthquake, have been reported since 1900.

Saturday's earthquake was "not expected to be as disastrous" as the 2008 earthquake, Pan Huaiwen, director of the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC), told Xinhua.The 2008 earthquake reduced entire towns in Sichuan to rubble. 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.The 2008 earthquake also resulted in the collapse of dozens of newly-built schools, resulting in the deaths of more than 5,000 children. The poor quality of construction of even newly-opened schools brought widespread criticism towards the government and subsequently triggered corruption investigations.The Ministry of Education said there were no reports of students killed on Saturday, looking to assuage public concerns about whether the tragedy of five years ago would again be repeated.

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. Tens of thousands of people were left homeless in Ya'an five years ago, according to Chinese media reports.The 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the city at 8.02 am local time (5.32 am IST) with an epicenter of 13 km depth, according to Xinhua. 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.The impact was powerful enough to rattle buildings in Chengdu, 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”. Xinhua said at least four major aftershocks were felt, the largest recorded as having a 5.3 magnitude.Not far from the affected areas is the Bifeng Gorge base, a research centre for the endangered giant panda. Yu Xiaoying, a staff member at the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre which runs Bifeng, told Xinhua there were no reports of "human or panda casualties

ചൈനയിലെ പടിഞ്ഞാറന്‍ സിചുവാന്‍ പ്രവിശ്യയിലുണ്ടായ ശക്തമായ ഭൂചലനത്തില്‍ നൂറിലധികം പേര്‍ മരിച്ചതായി സൂചന. 56 പേര്‍ മരിച്ചതായി സ്ഥിരീകരിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. നിരവധിപേര്‍ക്ക് പരിക്കേറ്റതായും റിപ്പോര്‍ട്ടുകളുണ്ട്.  റിക്ടര്‍ സ്‌കെയിലില്‍ 6.6 രേഖപ്പെടുത്തിയ ഭചലനത്തിന്റെ പ്രഭവകേന്ദ്രം ലിങ്കിയോങ് നഗരത്തില്‍നിന്ന് 80 കിലോമീറ്റര്‍ അകലെയാണെന്ന് യു.എസ് ജിയോളജിക്കല്‍ സര്‍വേ അധികൃതര്‍ അറിയിച്ചു. രക്ഷാപ്രവര്‍ത്തനങ്ങള്‍ തുടരുകയാണ്. 

സ്ഥിരമായി ഭൂചലനമുണ്ടാകുന്ന പ്രദേശമാണിത്. 2008 മെയില്‍ റിക്ടര്‍ സ്‌കെയിലില്‍ 8 രേഖപ്പെടുത്തിയ ഭൂചലനത്തില്‍ 90,000 പേര്‍ മരിച്ചിരുന്നു.

                              പ്രൊഫ്.  ജോണ്‍ കുരാക്കാർ