SICHUAN: At least four people were killed and 14 others injured after two earthquakes hit Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, on Wednesday, halting train lines and damaging houses.
A magnitude-6.1 earthquake rattled Lushan County at 5:00 p.m., followed by a magnitude-4.5 shock 3 minutes later in the nearby Baoxing County in the city.
The Chinese government has activated its Level-III emergency response for earthquakes, and sent a team to Lushan County.
China’s disaster reduction institute in Chengdu issued a warning four seconds after the first of the two earthquakes that rattled Ya’an City, urging tens of millions of people in the city and its surrounding towns to take quick shelters.
An amount of 50 million yuan ($4.5 million) was urgently allocated to each of the earthquake-hit Lushan and Baoxing counties for disaster relief, the Sichuan Provincial Finance Department announced on Wednesday night.
