China’s Inner Mongolia province was hit by a 5.3-magnitude earthquake on Monday even as China started airdrop of essential supplies to remote areas hit by Saturday quake in Sichuan province where the death toll climbed to 192 with 23 people missing.
Tongliao City, in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Fuxin City, in liaoning Province, in northeast China were jolted by moderate quakes this evening forcing people to rush out their houses.
The epicentre of the 5.3 magnitude quake was detected at a depth of 6 kms, China earthquake centre said. No casualties have been reported so far in the Horqin left Back Banner, the epicenter, according to local publicity and emergency response offices, State-run Xinhua reported. “People rushed to the street when the earthquake struck. But everyone went home soon after,” said an eyewitness. The fire brigade received two emergency calls but there was no serious damage, said liu Zhidan, head of the brigade. liu added that some buildings had sustained cracks. Meanwhile, the death toll in Sichuan quake climbed to 192. Over 12, 000 people were injured in the quake including over a thousand whose condition was stated to be critical.