At Least 40 Killed, 200 Seriously Hurt in China Quake

An earthquake in southern China that toppled more than 8,000 buildings killed at least 40 people and seriously injured more than 200, an official news report said Wednesday.

The nationally televised evening news aired the first footage from Tuesday’s magnitude-6.5 quake. The epicenter of the temblor was Wuding County, 60 miles northwest of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province.

The footage showed roads with massive cracks and rocks and gravel that had tumbled down mountainsides. Rows of buildings were reduced to rubble.

Medical workers were shown comforting victims who were lying under heavy cotton quilts as officials inspected the damage. One delegation was seen inside a building where walls had collapsed into piles of brick dissected by wooden pillars.

As of Wednesday, more than 1,000 aftershocks had rocked the 13 towns and 1,915 villages hit by the quake. About five of the aftershocks were greater than magnitude 5, said Ma Dianjun of the Yunnan provincial seismology bureau.

Ma said 6,509 people were slightly injured in the quake, which he said toppled 8,026 buildings and damaged 96,750 others.

About 20,000 people were reported homeless. Local governments have allocated $145,000 for disaster relief and sent food, building materials and other supplies to the area.