Just after 8am CST, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Lushun County, Sichuan, near the city of Ya’an. State media has reported that 56 people are confirmed to have been killed by the quake, with hundreds more injured.
The tragic disaster comes only weeks before the 5th anniversary of the devastating Wenchuan Earthquake, which hit the same region in 2008 killing nearly 70,000 people.
For up-to-date reports, keep your eyes on Xinhua’s dedicated page, as well as SCMP’s live blog.
Update 04/21/2013: Xinhua has reported that the death toll has risen to 186, with 21 people still missing and more than 11,000 people injured.
Update 04/23/2013: Malcolm Moore has piece in the Telegraph that reports one of China’s leading seismologists warned of the disaster long before it occurred.
