Seven dead in southwest China earthquake: state media

A 6.6-magnitude earthquake that slammed southwestern China on Monday claimed the lives of at least seven people, according to state media.

According to state broadcaster CCTV, preliminary investigations revealed that several towns in Sichuan province had suffered “severe damage to homes owing to mountain landslides,” and that telecommunication cables had been cut off in other places.

Initial surveys showed that a number of towns in Sichuan province had sustained “serious damage to housing due to mountain landslides” while telecommunication lines had been cut off in some areas, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake occurred just before 1 p.m. (0500 GMT) on Monday around 43 kilometers (26 miles) southeast of the city of Kangding in the Sichuan Province at a depth of 10 kilometers.

In the wake of the earthquake, contact lines with Moxi, a hamlet of around 7,000 people close to the epicenter, were reportedly broken, according to state media.

Residents of the adjacent megacity of Chongqing and the province capital Chengdu told AFP that there had been earthquakes that had moved furniture and shook buildings.

This article has been posted by a News Hour Correspondent. For queries, please contact through [email protected]
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