The earthquake in Yiliang, Yunnan killed 80 people and caused an economic loss of 3.5 billion yuan (picture)

The earthquake in Yiliang, Yunnan killed 80 people and caused an economic loss of 3.5 billion yuan (picture) As of 2:10 pm ET on September 7, the earthquake caused...

As of 2:10 pm ET on September 7, the earthquake affected 24 towns and villages in 3 counties: Yiliang County, Zhaoyang District and Daguan County, 744,000 people were affected, and 80 people died (79 people in Yiliang County, 1 person in Zhaotongyang District), and 731 people were affected. Injury; 1,900 households with 6,650 houses collapsed, 37,000 households with 122,000 houses were seriously damaged, 133,000 households with 308,000 houses were moderately damaged, 201,000 people needed emergency relocation, and direct economic losses were 3.5 billion yuan. The extent of the disaster is still being estimated.

At 11:19 on the 7th, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurred in Yiliang County, Yunnan, with a focal depth of 14 kilometers. Another earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 occurred at 12:16, with a focal depth of 10 kilometers. According to Huangfugang, director of the Yunnan Provincial Seismological Bureau, the earthquake type was initially identified as a swarm type. As of 18:00 on the 7th, more than 60 aftershocks had occurred.

Continuous aftershocks make rescue difficult due to rainy weather

According to the China Seismological Network, at 11:19 on September 7, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurred at the junction of Yiliang County, Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province and Weining Yi, Hui and Miao Autonomous County, Bijie District, Guizhou Province, with a focal depth of 14 kilometers. At 12:16, another earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 occurred in Yiliang County, Zhaotong City, with a focal depth of 10 kilometers. Many aftershocks followed.

Currently, the earthquake has affected more than 450,000 people, 3,961 houses have collapsed, 13,876 have been seriously damaged, 3,455 livestock pens have collapsed, 11,633 have been damaged, and 4,384 livestock have died. Currently, disaster relief and disaster verification work in Yiliang County is being carried out in an intense and orderly manner.

The Central Meteorological Observatory predicts that there will be rainy weather in the earthquake area in the next three days, which will be unfavorable to the rescue work. People in the earthquake area and rescue workers need to do a good job in rain protection. At the same time, the earthquake area is a geological hazard-vulnerable area, and rainfall will increase the possibility of landslides and debris flow disasters in mountainous areas, so prevention needs to be strengthened.

Liu Jie, director of the Earthquake Forecasting Department of the China Seismological Network Center, said in an interview with China News Service that this earthquake is a swarm type earthquake and aftershocks will continue to occur in the next few days. Special attention should be paid to secondary disasters such as landslides and rolling rocks.

>Wen Jiabao rushed to the disaster area

After the earthquake, Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the State, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, who was attending the APEC Summit in Russia, immediately issued important instructions, requiring relevant parties to quickly organize forces to invest in earthquake relief and ensure the safety of people's lives and property in the disaster area. Wen Jiabao, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Premier of the State Council, has rushed to the disaster area. Hui Liangyu, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, also gave instructions.

>The China Earthquake Administration has launched an earthquake emergency level III emergency response. The National Disaster Reduction Commission and the Ministry of Civil Affairs also upgraded the national level four disaster relief emergency response launched at 14:00 to level three at 16:00.

> Vice Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs Jiang Li led a working group of the National Disaster Reduction Commission composed of the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Health, the Earthquake Administration and other departments to rush to the disaster area to inspect the disaster situation, express condolences to the victims, and assist in disaster relief work.

>Multiple departments in Yunnan Province jointly mobilized manpower and materials to assist the disaster area

After the earthquake, the Yunnan Provincial Seismological Bureau quickly launched the second level response of the earthquake emergency plan. Within one hour after the earthquake, a 30-person earthquake on-site team led by Deputy Director Chen Qin was dispatched to the disaster area in two batches to guide earthquake relief and conduct on-site earthquake monitoring and forecasting.

At the same time, the People's Liberation Army and the Armed Police Rescue Team sent two rescue teams of 30 and 20 people respectively to the disaster area for rescue. The fire brigade of Yiliang County, Zhaotong, Yunnan Province immediately dispatched 3 vehicles and 17 people to the scene for rescue. At the same time, the Yunnan Armed Police Corps dispatched more than 220 officers and soldiers to the Yiliang earthquake-stricken area for emergency rescue and disaster relief.

After the disaster, the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government attached great importance to it. In order to help the disaster area do disaster relief work and properly arrange the lives of the victims, the Provincial Department of Finance allocated 10 million yuan in disaster relief subsidies, including: 8 million yuan in emergency subsidy funds, which were used for emergency rescue in the disaster area, resettlement of victims, and comfort for the families of the victims; 2 million yuan in working funds were used for earthquake relief subsidies.

As of 23:30, civil affairs departments at all levels had distributed a total of 120 pieces of mineral water, 85 pieces of high-quality yogurt, 12 pieces of pancakes, 509 kilograms of food (including biscuits, egg yolk pies, etc.), 62 emergency flashlights, 80 bags of rice (50 kilograms each), and 80 barrels of rapeseed oil.

In addition, the Yunnan Provincial Department of Health has also launched an emergency plan and dispatched a working group headed by Xu Heping, deputy director of the Department of Health, and composed of relevant experts from Kunming Medical University Affiliated Hospital and the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated Hospital to the disaster area.

Currently, the Yunnan Provincial Department of Civil Affairs and the Provincial Disaster Reduction Committee Office have upgraded the disaster relief emergency response to level 1. Provincial Party Committee Secretary Qin Guangrong and Governor Li Jiheng led a team to the Yiliang earthquake-stricken area.

In addition, after the earthquake, the Chengdu Military Region quickly organized more than 1,100 army officers, soldiers and militia reservists to participate in earthquake relief.

At 12:16 local time on September 7, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake occurred in Yiliang County, Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province (27.6 north latitude, 104.0 east longitude), with a focal depth of 10 kilometers. This is the dormitory area of ​​a school there. There were two people on the second floor and they jumped directly from the upstairs.

>The magnitude 5.7 and 5.6 events in Yiliang have constituted a double earthquake event

China Seismological Information Network reported that the magnitude 5.7 and 5.6 events in Yiliang have constituted a twin earthquake event. Historically, magnitude 5 earthquakes have been active near this area.

According to the China Seismological Network, at 11:19 on September 7, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurred at the junction of Yiliang County, Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province, and Weining Yi, Hui and Miao Autonomous County (27.5 degrees north latitude, 104.0 degrees east longitude) in Bijie District, Guizhou Province, with a focal depth of 14 kilometers. At 12:16, another earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 occurred in Yiliang County, Zhaotong City, with a focal depth of 10 kilometers. The epicenter of the Yiliang-Weining earthquake with magnitudes 5.7 and 5.6 is about 15 kilometers away from Yiliang County, 30 kilometers away from Daguan, 33 kilometers away from Zhaotong City, 56 kilometers away from Ludian, and about 300 kilometers away from Kunming City.

This earthquake occurred on the east side of the Sichuan-Yunnan rhombus block, with NE-trending active faults. The seismogenic structures of this earthquake were near the Xiyuhe Fault and Zhaotong Fault, and the focal mechanism was strike-slip. As of 13:00 on September 7, 2012, a total of 10 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or above had occurred in the earthquake area, including 6 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0-3.9, 2 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0-4.9, and 2 earthquakes of magnitude 5.0-5.9. The magnitude 5.7 and 5.6 events in Yiliang this time have constituted a double earthquake event.

The area has historically been active in magnitude 5 earthquakes. Since 1900, 8 earthquakes of magnitude 5 or above have occurred within 50 kilometers of the earthquake zone. The largest earthquakes were two magnitude 5.8 earthquakes in Guizhou on October 9, 1948 and Daguan on October 10, 1948. They were 11 kilometers and 23 kilometers away from this earthquake respectively. A total of 28 earthquakes of magnitude 5 or above have occurred within 100 kilometers of the earthquake area since 1948. The largest earthquake was the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in 1974, which was 78 kilometers away from this earthquake.

Judging from the historical earthquake types near the earthquake area, the earthquake types are relatively complex, including main shock, aftershock types and double earthquake types. In 1900, 8 groups of 11 earthquakes of magnitude 5 or above occurred within 50 kilometers of the epicenter, including 5 groups of mainshock and aftershock types, accounting for 63%. However, since 2000, most earthquakes with magnitudes above 5 have been double-shock or swarm-type activities. For example, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake swarm occurred in Ludian in the south on November 15 and 26, 2003, and a 5.1-magnitude earthquake swarm occurred in Yanjin in the north on July 22 and August 25, 2006.