Southwest China hit by new earthquake

Southwest China hit by new earthquake (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING August 20, 2008: An aftershock measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale struck China's southwest Yunnan province on Wednesday, causing buildings to collapse, Xinhua said. The quake struck the county of Yingjiang at 5:35 a.m. local time (21:35 GMT), the agency said resulting in the evacuation of around 1,200 people. No reports of casualties have been reported. Many houses collapsed in the epicenter, about 46 km from Yingjiang, and several neighborhoods have reported damage, which is being evaluated by the authorities. The latest tremor occurred just one day after China marked 100 days since the country's southwest Sichuan province was hit by a massive earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale, the most powerful to hit the region in thirty years. At least 70,000 people were killed and 10 million displaced. Chinese authorities said on Tuesday that China's Sichuan province would not be hit by a similar quake for 1,000 years in a move to try and attract investment into the region. Direct economic losses from China's May 12 earthquake have exceeded $150 billion.