China quake kills 5 people, thousands injured

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake rattled southwest China late Tuesday, killing at least five people, with up to 100 feared dead, according to a government estimate.

Five people died and more than 60 were injured in the quake, the official Xinhua news agency said, including 30 who were in critical condition.

But China's National Commission for Disaster Reduction estimated that as many as 100 people may have perished, based on 2010 census data of the mountainous, sparsely populated region.

Over 130,000 houses may be damaged, it added in a statement posted on its website, based on a preliminary analysis of the disaster in a remote region of Sichuan province.

The quake occurred around 9.20 pm (1320 GMT), not far from the site of a massive 8.0-magnitude earthquake that struck in 2008 leaving 87,000 people dead or missing.

Its epicenter was 284 kilometers (176 miles) north of the provincial capital Chengdu and struck at a depth of 10 kilometers, the US Geological Survey said.

Chinese paramilitary police stand to attention as they prepare to leave from their base in Chengdu, in China's south-west Sichuan province on August 8, 2017, for an earthquake-struck area. (Photo by AFP)

The affected region, Jiuzhaigou county, includes one of the country's most famous national parks, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for karst formations and lakes.

At least one tourist was killed and four others injured in the park, the state-run People's Daily newspaper said, with more than 100 other people trapped there.

Some houses at the scenic spot collapsed following the quake and authorities were organizing young people to help evacuate residents, a staff worker at the park told Xinhua.

Photos from the area posted to social media showed masses of people milling about on streets scattered with light debris, and a taxi dented from being hit by a large boulder.

Over 600 fire officers and soldiers have been deployed, the People's Daily newspaper said.

China is regularly hit by earthquakes, especially its mountainous western and southwestern regions.

Earlier today, a landslide triggered by heavy rains killed at least 24 people in a different, mountainous region of Sichuan to the south of Chengdu.