Earthquakes Hit Southwestern China
Published on Sep 7, 2012 by MsAnchi88
A series of earthquakes in southwestern China on Friday killed at least 43 people and injured dozens, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
There were reports of "some houses collapsed" and power outages in the quake area, according to Xinhua, which earlier said more than 20,000 houses were damaged.
The four quakes struck near the border of the provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou between 11:19 a.m. and 1:12 p.m. local time, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Their magnitudes ranged between 4.8 and 5.6, it said.
The first quake took place at the border area of Yiliang County in Yunnan and Weining County in Guizhou, Xinhua said. The news agency cited unidentified "government sources" for the initial death toll and damage.
All four quakes hit at a depth of about 10 kilometers, the USGS said.
The southwestern region of China is prone to earthquakes. In May 2008, a magnitude 7.9 quake in the province of Sichuan caused widespread devastation, killing at least 69,000 people.
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