China earthquake: Death toll mounts to nine

August 09, 2017 09:11

At least nine people were killed and 164 other injured after a 7-magnitude earthquake jolted a remote but popular tourist destination in China's southwest last night, the state media reported today.

The quake has left nine people dead and 164 others injured. Five among the dead were visitors to the popular tourist destination of Jiuzhaigou national park, Xinhua news agency said citing a China Earthquake Networks Center statement.

The massive earthquake struck at 9:19 PM (local time) yesterday and the epicenter was monitored at a depth of 20 km, it said.

Jiuzhaigou, or Jiuzhai Valley, is a national park known for spectacular waterfalls and karst formations. More than 34,000 people visited the tourist attraction yesterday.

So far, 31,500 tourists have been relocated to safe places.

The local government has organised tourist coaches and private-owned vehicles to rush to the affected areas to help transport the stranded tourists.

Power, communication and water supply in the county seat have basically recovered.

So far, the Jiuzhaigou County has dispatched more than 90 emergency vehicles and 1,200 personnel to participate in the rescue work.

The county also sent consultants to hotels, rural inns and streets to offer possible counselling service for tourists.

The quake was felt in the provincial capital Chengdu, about 300 km south of the epicentre, and other regions in the neighbouring provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi, the Xinhua report said.

President Xi Jinping has called for all-out efforts to rapidly organise relief work and rescue the injured people.

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