50 deaths, 2.3 million people affected by January natural disasters in China
Beijing, CHINA(EFE) – Various natural disasters and extreme weather events in China in January, such as earthquakes, landslides, freezing temperatures and snow, caused 50 deaths and affected nearly 2.3 million people, the Ministry of Emergency Management reported Wednesday.
The ministry said that natural disasters, which also include drought, wind and hail and forest fires, also caused the urgent relocation of 24,000 people, the collapse of more than 600 homes, damage to another 28,700 and the loss of 207,100 hectares of crops, with a direct economic impact of 3 billion yuan ($418 million), reported the state People’s Daily.
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Among the most serious disasters were the magnitude-7.1 earthquake that shook the western region of Xinjiang, leaving three dead, and a landslide that claimed 44 victims in Zhenxiong county in the southern province of Yunnan.
In addition, a cold snap affected more than 25 provinces in the country, especially those in the south, where the first snowfalls of the year were recorded, disrupting the supply of electricity, communications and transportation.
According to the ministry, the cold and snow affected more than 2 million people in 12 provinces, especially in the central provinces of Jiangxi, Hunan and Guizhou, where nearly 1,500 homes and 197,100 hectares of crops were damaged.
Other natural disasters that occurred in January were droughts, which affected 63,000 people and 2,900 hectares of crops in Yunnan; hail, which injured 8,200 people and 6,900 hectares of crops in the southwest of the country; and forest fires, in which seven cases were recorded without casualties. EFE