Skip to main content

A strong quake in south China kills 2 and triggers evacuation of 7,000

BEIJING (AP) — A 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck south China’s Guangxi region early Monday, killing two people, toppling buildings and triggering the evacuations of thousands, state media reported.

Four others were injured, while more than 7,000 residents were evacuated from Liuzhou city.

The search for several missing residents wrapped up around midday Monday, after the last trapped person, a 91-year-old man, was found alive in good condition, authorities said.

Images aired by state broadcaster CCTV showed excavators clearing debris. At least 13 buildings collapsed, while landslides triggered by the quake blocked roads to the area, according to CCTV.

Train services around Liuzhou were canceled or delayed.

Earthquakes occasionally strike south China, with more intense ones usually occurring toward the mountainous west or the east, toward Taiwan. The most devastating recent earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 occurred in the southwestern Sichuan province in 2008, leaving more than 87,000 dead or missing.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
Read Next Story

Related Stories

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

Police warn families of Tiananmen crackdown dead not to visit graves on 37th anniversary

Women are the first caregivers in this Ebola outbreak and the most at risk