Panic As Deadly 6.0 Quake Strikes Killing 13

Story By: John FengSub-EditorMichael Leidig, Agency: Asia Wire Report;

Video Credit: AsiaWire

This is the moment a deadly 6.0-magnitude earthquake rocks a Chinese province leaving at least 13 people dead and 200 injured.

The earthquake struck the county of Changning, which is in Yibin City in south-western Sichuan Province, at 10:55pm local time on 17th June.

Hundreds of firefighters have been dispatched to Yibin by the country’s Ministry of Emergency Management, which said over a dozen victims had been freed from the rubble of their collapsed homes.

Several dozen buildings have reportedly collapsed during the disaster, which was followed by at least four aftershocks – the largest of which measured a magnitude of 5.1.

Large-scale search and rescue efforts were still ongoing at the time of writing.

Picture Credit: AsiaWire

A number of residents in the province are believed to have been saved by an early warning system, which rang for at least 10 seconds before the quake hit Yibin.

According to Chinese state media, the alarm sounded a full minute before the temblor was felt in the provincial capital of Chengdu.

Videos posted by homeowners and quake survivors show the loud alarm preceded by a countdown, after which buildings begin shaking.

The short initial quake left buildings cracked open and streets covered in fallen rubble and debris, footage shows.

Hundreds to thousands were also filmed making their way to predetermined assembly points such as public squares or parks.

Sichuan Province experiences regular earthquakes, the most serious of which in recent times was a 7.9-magnitude quake in 2008 which claimed more than 87,000 lives.

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