• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

China scales back homeless number after quake

Sat Jul 11, 2009 2:07am EDT

SHANGHAI, July 11 (Reuters) - China on Saturday scaled back its initial estimates of the number of people displaced by a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in southwestern Yunnan province, saying 250,000 rather than 400,000 people had been left homeless.

"The miscalculation was due in part to the chaos in the aftermath of the quake," the official Xinhua news agency cited deputy provincial governor Cao Jianfang as saying.

The quake killed one person and injured about 300.

The quake struck on Thursday at 7:19 p.m. (1119 GMT) in Guantun township, in a mountainous area about 200 km (125 miles) northwest of the provincial capital, Kunming.

The U.S. Geological Service estimated the severity of the quake at 5.7 at a depth of about 10 km (6 miles).

The area has regularly suffered earthquakes and aftershocks since an 8.0 quake in neighbouring Sichuan in May 2008 killed about 80,000 people. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sugita Katyal)


More from Reuters

A Greenpeace activist dressed as one of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" rides outside the parliament building during a brief protest in Copenhagen December 13, 2009. REUTERS/Christian Charisius

The face of climate protest

Protesters around the globe called for an end to global warming as climate talks in Copenhagen entered their sixth day.  Video 

    Climate conference
    In this photo reviewed by the U.S. Military, a guard leans on a fencepost as a Guantanamo detainee (L) jogs inside the exercise yard at Camp 5 detention center, at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, January 21, 2009. REUTERS/Brennan Linsley/Pool

    Life after Guantanamo

    Critics are worried that Gitmo prisoners once dubbed "enemy combatants" will be using prisons as pulpits for anti-American rhetoric once they're moved to U.S. soil.  Full Article 

    U.S.
    Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Robert Stevens answers a question during the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington December 14, 2009. REUTERS/Molly Riley

    Lockheed eyes deals

    The future demands of cybersecurity make that sector one of many the aerospace giant sees as an acquisition target in the coming year.  Full Article 

    Aerospace and Defense Summit