Special report: Reconstruction After Earthquake

Residents gather on a tractor to evade earthquake in Bailagu Village, Pingdi Town, Renhe District of Panzhihua City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, August 31, 2008. Twenty-two people were dead after an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit Panzhihua City on Saturday. As of 9 p.m., 17 people were reported dead and about 100 others injured in Sichuan, and five people dead and 35 others injured in neighboring Yunnan Province. The quake struck the juncture of Renhe District of Panzhihua and Huili County of Liangshan Prefecture at 4:30 p.m. (Beijing time).(Xinhua/Chen Haining)

    PANZHIHUA, Sichuan, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — Local authorities in southwest China’s Sichuan and Yunnan provinces on Sunday renewed the death toll of the Saturday’s 6.1-magnitude quake from 22 to 24.

    Sixteen deaths were reported in Huili, a county in Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Liangshan, Sichuan Province, and three deaths in Panzhihua City, also in Sichuan, and five other deaths in Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Chuxiong in Yunnan.

    The quake struck the juncture of Renhe District in Panzhihua and Huili County in Liangshan prefecture at 4:30 p.m. (Beijing time) on Saturday. The epicenter was about 50 km southeast of downtown Panzhihua, at 26.2 degrees north latitude and 101.9 degrees east longitude and at a depth of 10 km, according to the China Earthquake Administration.

    Nearly 400 people were injured in the quake, which also destroyed plenty of residences, and other infrastructure in the quake zone.