Quake Hits Southwestern China, Kills 19

A magnitude-5.1 earthquake hit a mountainous area in southwestern China on Saturday, killing at least 19 people and injuring 60 as it toppled homes and set off landslides. The earthquake struck at 9:10 a.m. in Yanjin county in Yunnan province, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Chinese television showed roads in Yanjin blocked by landslides, a car crushed under fallen rocks and several single-story homes with tiled roofs that had completely collapsed. Villagers were huddled under umbrellas and makeshift tents to keep away from the sun. Liu Tengfei, a high school student from the Yanjin town of Dousha, was at a friend's house when the temblor hit. "The house was shaking and then a clock on the wall fell down and broke, so we ran out," Liu said by telephone. He said many buildings were badly cracked and officials had ordered people to sleep outdoors Saturday night. A Dousha official, Chen Hua, said at least five aftershocks followed the earthquake. A Yanjin county official who would only give his surname, Xiao, said rescuers had confirmed 16 dead and 60 injured in Yanjin. Xiao said 100 houses were destroyed in the county and about 1,000 damaged. Xinhua said 500 tents, 1,000 quilts and 500 blankets had been sent to the area. A man named Shen with the Zhaotong Seismological Bureau said three people were reported dead in nearby Daguan county. He had no figure for the number of injured. Yanjin is 1,100 miles southwest of Beijing and has a population of 350,000. http://www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/ap/2006/07/22/ap2897144.html