Earthquake of 6.8 magnitude kills 65 people in China: State media

The 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck southwestern China on Monday has killed more than 65 people, state media said. Hundreds of people have also been injured. Authorities previously reported that seven people had died after the earthquake.

At least 16 other people are missing a day after the earthquake hit a mountainous area in Luding county in Sichuan province, which sits on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. This area is prone to earthquakes as it is located right above a tectonic plate joint.

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Tremors were also felt in the provincial capital of Chengdu, an area that is already under a COVID-19 lockdown. More than 21 million live in the city, news agency Associated Press reported.

Power was knocked out and buildings damaged in the historic town of Moxi in the Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Garze, where 37 people were killed. Tents were erected for more than 50,000 people being moved from homes made unsafe by the quake, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

State broadcaster CCTV showed rescue crews pulling a woman who appeared uninjured from a collapsed home in Moxi, where many of the buildings are constructed from a mix of wood and brick. Around 150 people were reported with varying degrees of injuries.

Another 28 people were killed in neighboring Shimian county on the outskirts of the city of Ya’an. Another 248 people were reported as injured, mainly in Moxi, and another 12 people were reported missing.

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Three of the dead were workers at the Hailuogou Scenic Area, a glacier and forest nature reserve.

Along with the deaths, authorities reported stones and soil falling from mountainsides, causing damage to homes and power interruptions, CCTV said. One landslide blocked a rural highway, leaving it strewn with rocks, the Ministry of Emergency Management said.