An earthquake struck China's western region of Sichuan province Saturday, killing at least 56 people and more than 600 injured and prompting state media to warn the casualty toll could climb sharply.
The quake struck just after 8 a.m. local time about 115 kilometers (70 miles) away from the provincial capital, Chengdu, at a depth of around 12 kilometers, according to China's state news agency Xinhua. There was conflicting information about the earthquake's strength, with the USGS putting the magnitude at 6.6 and the China Earthquake Networks Center gauging it at 7.0.
"Generally the quake felt much stronger than that from five years ago. Many decorations at home got smashed," said Zhao Zheng, a resident of Ya'an city, near the quake. He was reached by direct message on his Twitter-like microblog resident and said he was awakened by the earthquake.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake had a magnitude of 6.6, while Chinese media reports said it was at least 6 miles deep.
The death toll currently stands at 56, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported, citing Sichuan's emergency management office.
And preliminary reports indicate that more than 600 people have been injured, Xu Mengjia, the Communist Party chief of Ya'an, the city at the epicenter, told state broadcaster CCTV.
The People's Daily newspaper said 41 people had been killed, including at least 28 in the epicenter of Lushan. Xu Mengjia, Communist Party secretary for Ya'an, which administers Lushan, told China Central Television that at least 32 people had been killed and more than 600 injured.
The USGS noted that "significant" casualties were likely and that "extensive damage is probable and disaster is likely widespread".
"Past events with this alert level have required a national or international level response," it added, quoted by AFP news agency.
The 2008 disaster in Sichuan left five million people homeless.
