At least 65 people were killed and hundreds injured in the earthquake that triggered landslides and shook buildings in southwest China, state media reported today.
At least 16 people are still missing a day after a 6,8-magnitude earthquake hit a mountainous area in Sichuan province's Luding County on the rim of the Tibetan Plateau where tectonic plates meet and earthquakes are common.
The earthquake hit the provincial capital, Chengdu, where 21 million residents are already in isolation due to covid 19.
In the historic town of Moxi in the autonomous Tibetan prefecture of Garze, 37 people died, electricity was cut off and buildings were damaged.
Tents have been set up for more than 50.000 people who left unsafe homes after the earthquake, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
State broadcaster CCTV showed rescue teams pulling the woman unharmed from the rubble of her home in Moksi, where many of the buildings are made of wood and bricks.
About 150 people reported injuries of varying degrees.
In the neighboring district of Šimian and in the city of Jaan, 28 people were killed, while 248 people were injured, mostly in Moksi, and another 12 are missing.
Authorities said rocks and earth were falling from the mountainsides, damaging homes and cutting power lines, according to CCTV.
One landslide blocked a local road blocked by rocks, the Ministry of Emergency Management said.
Sichuan province has already been hit by a heat wave and drought that has led to restrictions on water and electricity supplies.
The worst earthquake in recent years, with a magnitude of 7,9, hit China in 2008, killing nearly 90.000 people in Sichuan province.
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