At least four people have been killed and 14 others injured after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake rattled Lushan County of Ya'an City in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 17:00 Wednesday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center, Reuters reports.
As of 19:40, four deaths and 14 injured were reported in Baoxing County, said Ya'an health department. The injured were sent to hospital for treatment.
The epicenter, with a depth of 17 kilometers, was at 30.37 degrees north latitude and 102.94 degrees east longitude, the center said.
The epicenter was 12 kilometers from Baoxing County, 38 kilometers from Tianquan County, 41 kilometers from Ya'an City and 113 kilometers from Chengdu City.
A 4.5-magnitude earthquake was also reported in Baoxing at 17:03, with a depth of 18 kilometers.
Strong tremors were also felt as far as Sichuan's capital city of Chengdu and Chongqing Municipality, netizens said.
Analysis shows that the population within 20 kilometers of the epicenter is about 70,000, about 1.17 million within 50 kilometers, and about 7.89 million within 100 kilometers.
Over 1,400 provincial firefighters were mobilized to the sites. Meanwhile, rescue teams from adjacent provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan and Chongqing Municipality are prepared as reinforcements.
The Sichuan fire department said some houses in Lushan County were partially damaged and it's continuing to communicate with relevant counties and towns that have been affected.
The Ya'an municipal government has activated a Level-II emergency response, the second highest of the four-tier system of emergency responses.
China's ministry of emergency management has also sent a team of experts to Lushan for rescue and relief operation.
Due to the two quakes, China's railway authority has urgently halted relevant sections of train lines.
