Damaging Yunnan, Shangri La area (China) earthquake (August 27/28) – Many houses collapsed and/or damaged – landslides

Last update: August 28, 2013 at 1:59 pm by By Ashish Khanal

Update 13:56 UTC : New update from the assessment and rescue teams in the earthquake zone : 2 counties, 19 villages and 9176 people were affected, 56 houses collapsed, 45 houses severely damaged  and 266 houses slightly damaged.

Update 07:47 UTC : At least 36 houses in Yunnan and Sichuan collapsed, some hundreds were damaged. More than 10.000 people are affected. Rescue teams sent thousand of tents and food to the quake victims.

Update 06:36 UTC : Many houses in Yunnan and Sichuan close to the epicenter were damaged by the quake. Some of them severely, respectively nearly collapsed. Many landslides occurred in the steep valleys, which blocked and damaged roads and destroyed water pipes. Some 200 people were trapped on a road. Rockfalls in villages caused additional damage. So far, no reports about injuries, but approx. 4000 people are affected by the quake.
An aftershock with M 4.4, which occurred some hours later, caused additional damage.

The impressive Shangri La Buddhist monastery where the earthquake was also felt – image Armand Vervaeck

Update 21:47 UTC : As usual, International seismological agency data are varying a lot compared with the Chinese data. We trust however the Chinese data based on our long experience with Chinese earthquakes.
We expect detailed assessment news during the UTC morning hours (currently still dark in the epicenter area)

Village of Garze in the epicenter area – Image courtesy and copyright Hatong

Update 21:37 UTC : CEIC China reports a Magnitude of M5.1 at a shallow depth of 9 km. Based on our experience with Chinese earthquakes and our knowledge of the area, we think that this earthquake will be damaging.
The area is very mountainous and the earthquake has struck on the slopes of high hills who are bordering a deep river valley.
More to the south is Shangri-La a location know for his beautiful Monastery which is being visited by huge numbers of tourists every year.

3km (2mi) WNW of Benzilan, China
176km (109mi) NNW of Dayan, China
290km (180mi) W of Xichang, China
295km (183mi) NNW of Dali, China

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 4.9

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-08-28 04:44:56

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-08-27 20:44:56

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 10 km

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/08/27/moderate-earthquake-yunnan-china-on-august-27-2013/