INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
One of China&s most powerful earthquakes in recent years killed at least 149 people in a remote northwestern region, according to state
media, with two people still missing after the magnitude 6.2 temblor hit a week ago, Reuters reported.The epicentre of the quake straddled
the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai in an area where many of China&s Hui people, a tight-knit ethnic minority characterised by its
distinctive Muslim identity, are found.Gansu bore the brunt of the quake&s wrath
More than 200,000 homes were wrecked and 15,000 were on the brink of collapse, Chinese state media reported
Displacing 145,000 people, the powerful tremors killed 117 people in the province as of Dec
22, with 781 wounded.In Qinghai west of Gansu, 32 people died and two remained missing as of 11 p.m
(1500 GMT) on Sunday, according to state media.Local authorities attributed the severity of the damage to the shallowness of the quake
The thrust-type rupture of the earthquake and the relatively soft sedimentary rock in the region also amplified the destructive power of the
tremors.Many of the homes destroyed were built from an earlier era, made of earth-wood or brick-wood structures
Their load-bearing walls were constructed from earth, resulting in their poor defences against any earthquake, local authorities said.The
tragedy has highlighted the urgency of raising the earthquake resistance of rural homes, they added.Earthquakes are common in provinces on
the northeastern boundary of the tectonically active Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, comprising most of Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, parts of Xinjiang
and the rugged highlands in the west of Sichuan, read the report.Ten years ago in Sichuan, more than 6,700 people were injured and over 160
were killed in a magnitude 6.6 earthquake
In 2010, a destructive magnitude 7.1 quake killed 2,700 people in Yushu, a largely Tibetan area in Qinghai.The post China earthquake death
toll rises to 149, two still missing after a week first appeared on Ariana News.
