Twin quakes damage 38,000 houses in southwest China
09:54, 19/05/2016, Thursday
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More than 45,200 people affected, 6,800 evacuated after magnitude 5.0 and 4.8 temblors
More than 45,200 people have been affected by twin earthquakes that damaged 38,000 houses in China's southwest Yunnan Province.
State news agency Xinhua reported Thursday that 192 of the houses collapsed after a magnitude 5.0 temblor hit Yunlong county before another of magnitude 4.6 struck neighboring Eryuan around 17 minutes later Wednesday.
Around 6,800 people were evacuated after the quakes, which also impacted another nearby county.
Local authorities have set aside 2.5 million yuan ($383,000) for disaster relief.
According to the agency, Yunlong's population density is low, with an average of 47 people per square kilometer.
In Aug. 2014, at least 617 people died when a magnitude-6.5 quake struck Yunnan.
Another southwestern province, Sichuan, suffered a massive magnitude-8.0 earthquake in May 2008 that left more than 80,000 dead or missing.
