Extremely dangerous earthquake/aftershock in Yunnan, China – at least 5 people killed and 36 injured

Last update: August 31, 2013 at 1:16 pm by By Ashish Khanal

Update 12:53 UTC : The death toll has unfortunately risen to 5.
36 people have been injured by the quake. At least 15 of them have been hospitalized.
The fatalities have been recorded in both the counties of Shangri-La and Deqen (Yunnan Province).
The present damage and injured/death toll may climb further the coming hours as rescue teams will further search the area.

Landslides and a heavy truck who slashed into a minibus (not specified whether this is the minibus with the tourists in it). The injured were hospitalized. Image courtesy and copyright news.xinhuanet.com

Update 09:57 UTC : The Chinese press is now reporting the death of 4 people and at least 17 injured. Telecommunications were down in some parts of the hardest hit area and emergency units are being installed by the Chinese authorities. A lot of landslides have been reported in this mountainous Yunnan area. Assessment is still continuing but the following numbers can be reported as minimum damage :
– 600 rooms have collapsed
– 55,500 rooms have been damaged to different extend
– +9,000 residents have been affected and had to live in tented camps or with relatives.

Update : At least 3 people have been killed by this earthquake and 17 have been reported as injured. Many houses (who might have been already damaged from the M5.1 earthquake) have collapsed and even more damaged further.

Electricians work to supply electricity to the affected area in the area bordering the counties of Shangri-La, Deqen of Yunnan Province and Derong County of Sichuan Province, with a depth of about 10 kilometers, the center said. (Image courtesy and copyright Xinhua/Shi Xianrao)

Update : Also tourists seems to have been involved in this earthquake. The greater earthquake area is a highlight in many Chinese tours, a visit to the town and Monastery of Shangri La, also called Little Tibet.

The earthquake is in fact an aftershock of a M5.1 at 12 km depth from a few days ago. Click here for our in-depth article.

0 km (0mi) S of Benzilan, China
172 km (107mi) NNW of Dayan, China
286 km (178mi) W of Xichang, China
291 km (181mi) NNW of Dali, China

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 5.7

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-08-31 08:04:19

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-08-31 00:04:19

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 10 km

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/08/31/moderate-earthquake-yunnan-china-on-august-31-2013/