Thousands of firefighters and soldiers were busy Tuesday in China to get out any survivors from the rubble and help the local population, after a powerful earthquake in a mountainous area that has already killed 66 people.

A 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Sichuan province on Monday, according to the United States Institute of Geological Studies (USGS) - the world's reference organization for earthquakes.

The point in pictures.


Directed by:

Olivier JUSZCZAK

  • An earthquake

    of magnitude 6.6 hit the province of Sichuan (southwest) on Monday.

  • The epicenter is in Luding Township, an area of ​​valleys, rushing rivers and narrow roads on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, about 200 kilometers west of the provincial capital Chengdu.

  • Thirty-eight people died in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze, where the epicenter is located, and 28 in the neighboring township of Shimian, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

  • This brings the current toll of the earthquake to 66 dead for this earthquake in Sichuan, already hit this summer by the heat wave.

  • “Everyone is in tents” set up by rescuers and the army, Chen Ling, a restaurant owner in the town of Moxi, one of the most affected places, told AFP by telephone.

  • State media broadcast images of area residents temporarily relocated to large blue or green tents.

  • “It's safer to be here, because there are still aftershocks and then tiles can easily fall from buildings.

    The electricity is cut, but we have been installed with generators”, she says again.

  • More than 11,000 people were evacuated from areas prone to landslides or building collapse, CCTV said.

  • Nearly 250 injured and 12 missing are also listed in the various counts made public by the state media.

  • Some roads, cut, have become impassable, forcing rescuers to cross some rivers using makeshift bridges or cables stretched from one bank to the other.

  • At least 10 aftershocks with a magnitude of 3 or more have been recorded since the first quake, according to a latest count by the China Center for Seismic Networks (CENC) on Tuesday.

  • Sichuan, known worldwide for its giant panda reserves, is regularly hit by earthquakes.

  • In June, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake had already shaken the province, killing at least four people and injuring dozens.

    In May 2008, a very powerful earthquake, of magnitude 7.9, left 87,000 dead or missing and caused a national shock.

  • Natural disaster

  • China

  • Slideshow

  • World

  • Planet

  • Earthquake

  • Earthquake