BEIJING -- The toll from a strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake in southwest China rose to 11 dead and 122 injured on Tuesday, as rescuers pulled survivors from wrecked buildings.
The earthquake struck outside the city of Yibin in Sichuan province late Monday at a depth of 16 kilometers, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.
A hotel close to the epicenter collapsed, but it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties from that incident, the official Xinhua news agency said. Cracks appeared in several area highways.
State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of rescuers bringing a survivor out of the rubble of a building on a stretcher overnight. Other images showed a woman being helped out of another collapsed structure.
Images from Changning County showed an electricity pole knocked down on the roof of a building, a hole in a brick home and broken windows on the street.
Eight died in Changning County and three others in Qixian County, the Yibin city government said in its Twitter-like Weibo account. Rescuers pulled 6 bodies and 7 survivors from buildings, it added.
The area was hit by a series of at least 4 aftershocks, the largest of which had a magnitude of 5.1.
More than 300 firefighters have been dispatched to the scene. Rescue personnel were also sent with 5,000 tents, 10,000 folding cots and other emergency supplies, Xinhua reported.
The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the main quake at 5.8, adding that "extensive damage is probable and the disaster is likely widespread".
Earthquakes regularly strike Sichuan, where a powerful 7.9-magnitude quake left 87,000 people dead or missing in 2008.
In February, three earthquakes hit Rongxian county in the province, killing 2 people and injuring 12 others -- casualties that residents blamed on fracking.
Local authorities later halted shale gas mining after thousands of residents protested.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
CHENGDU, China - Chinese street barber Xiong Gaowu deftly scrapes a straight razor along the inside of his customer's eyelid.
"You should be gentle, very, very gentle," said Xiong, who performs traditional eyelid shaves at his roadside location in Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan.
Customers swear by the practice of "blade wash eyes", as it is known in Mandarin, saying they trust Xiong's skill with the blade.
"No, it's not dangerous," said 68-year-old Zhang Tian. "My eyes feel refreshed after shaving and I feel comfortable."
Xiong, 62, said he learned the technique in the 1980s and serves up to eight customers a week, charging 80 yuan ($12) per shave.
"It was difficult at the beginning, but it became a piece of cake afterwards," he said.
The technique appears to unblock moisturizing sebaceous glands along the rim of the eyelid, said Qu Chao, an opthalmologist who works at a nearby hospital in Chengdu.
"Patients will feel their eyes are dry and uncomfortable when the glands are blocked," she said. "When he is shaving, it is most likely that he is shaving the openings of these glands."
She said there was a risk of infection if the equipment was not sterilised.
"If he can properly sterilize the tools that he uses, I can still see there is a space for this technique to survive," Qu said.
While customers insisted their eyes felt better after a shave, onlookers cringed at the sight of Xiong wielding his razor.
"I am afraid to do it," said He Yiting, 27, who winced as she watched
source: news.abs-cbn.com
BEIJING - A 5.5 magnitude earthquake rattled southwestern China's Sichuan province on Saturday, part of the country frequently struck by temblors, with initial reports of only minor damage.
The quake struck 78 kilometers (48 miles) west of Guangyuan city, the United States Geological Survey said, with a depth of 10 km (6 miles).
People close to the epicenter said on Chinese social media that they felt shaking, and some posted pictures of people rushing outside of buildings.
State media showed pictures of tiles having fallen off walls and bottles toppled over.
The Sichuan government said several rail services had been suspended for safety checks, but that it had not received any reports of power being cut off in any parts of the province.
The quake hit a mountainous area between the cities of Guangyuan and Mianyang.
Sichuan is often struck by tremors. A huge quake there in 2008 killed almost 70,000 people.
In August, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck a remote part of the same province near a popular tourist area, killing 20 people and injuring around 500, many of them in landslides.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
