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Yunnan quake displaces 250,000

An aftershock jolted south-western China, days after an earthquake killed one person, injured hundreds and, according to state media, “directly affected” two million people, Agence France-Presse reported. More than 250,000 people in several counties in Yunnan Province were displaced after a 5.7-magnitude quake struck mountainous Yao’an County on Thursday. 

The news agency Xinhua said the quake was centred on a relatively sparsely populated area 98 kilometres north-east of Dali, a tourist city. More than 30,000 houses collapsed, Xinhua said on Monday, updating its previous figure of 18,000. Another 625,000 were damaged, it said. Up to 367 people were injured, including 31 critically, according to the report.

Xinhua said that by Sunday rescuers had finished relocating 255,000 people considered to be in danger to tents, makeshift houses or homes of relatives. The operation reportedly involved more than 1,000 soldiers and policemen, including about 300 from neighbouring Sichuan Province.

Last year in Sichuan, nearly 87,000 people were left dead or missing when an 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck the province in China’s mountainous south-west. The deadliest quake to strike China in more than three decades, it flattened entire cities and towns, destroying schools, hospitals, homes, buildings and factories in nearly 50,000 villages.

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