Hundreds injured in south China quake - report

Thu Jul 9, 2009 10:15pm GMT
 

BEIJING (Reuters) - Hundreds of people were injured and thousands of homes damaged by a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in southwest China's Yunnan province on Thursday, Xinhua news agency said.

The government of Yao'an county estimated 30 severe injuries among more than 300 hurt, and put the number of collapsed homes at 10,000 in a hasty initial estimate.

The quake struck at 7:19 pm in Guantun township, in a mountainous area about 200 km (125 miles) northwest of the provincial capital Kunming.

The U.S. Geological Service estimated the severity of the quake at 5.7 at a depth of about 10 km.

The area has regularly suffered earthquakes and aftershocks since an 8.0 quake in neighbouring Sichuan in May 2008 killed about 80,000 people.

(Reporting by Lucy Hornby, edited by Richard Meares)

Photo
Photo
Life with the lions

Kenya’s Maasai warriors are known for being fearless lion killers but times have changed and the country’s lion’s population is in danger of being wiped out. Now the Maasai in southern Kenya are taking part in an initiative to preserve the big cats.  Blog 

 
Photo
Is an independent south Sudan now inevitable?

So, is it now inevitable that Sudan’s oil-producing south will decide to split away from the north as an independent country in a looming secession referendum in 2011?  Blog 

 
Photo
Do Ethiopia’s politicians mean it on democracy?

On the evening of the 20th of March 1878, Ethiopia’s two great rivals, Emperors Yohannes IV and Menelik II, came face-to-face to thrash out their differences.  Blog 

 
Photo
The African brain drain

Africa is suffering from a massive brain drain and it’s questionable whether enough of those highly motivated students studying in America will return home in large enough numbers to really make a difference...  Blog 

 
Photo
Is Sudan’s Darfur crisis getting too much attention?

Activists often say that the world is not paying enough attention to Sudan’s Darfur crisis. But could the opposite be true?   Blog 

 
Photo
Vatican synod urges corrupt African leaders to quit

Roman Catholic bishops called on corrupt Catholic leaders in Africa on Friday to repent or resign for giving the continent and the Church a bad name.  Blog