After the earthquake, magnitude-6.0, rescue efforts were underway.
According to the official Xinhua News Agency, it struck at 4:33 a.m. in Luxian at a depth 10 km (6 miles) deep. It happened in a county located in the city Luzhou. CCTV, the state broadcaster, reported that 88 people were hurt, three of them seriously, and that 35 homes had been destroyed.
The epicenter was located approximately 200 km (120 miles) southwest of Chengdu the provincial capital.
Xinhua reported on how collapsed houses and walls could be seen along the road to the epicenter. Also, that electricity was cut off in large parts of Jiaming. Residents were seen tidying up.
Xinhua reported that rescue workers went door-to-door during heavy rain to find people living in Fuji town’s damaged homes and moved them to temporary shelters. Workers distributed mooncakes, a traditional treat to be enjoyed at the Mid-Autumn Festival next week, as well as other food, at one shelter.
Xinhua was told by Lai Jianrong, a Fuji resident that she felt a slight tremor at 4 a.m. She ran outside naked in her nightgown as the tremors intensified. According to the agency, she said that “some bricks fell off the wall” and that she didn’t dare go back in.
CCTV reported that more than 3200 people were moved to 79 shelters.
Frequently, earthquakes strike Western China. Nearly 90,000. people were killed in Sichuan by a magnitude-7.9 earthquake in May 2008. Many of these victims were in schools that collapsed or other buildings that were poorly constructed.