Death toll from China earthquake climbs to 19

The death toll from a strong earthquake hit south-western China on Tuesday has risen to 19 and 164 wounded people.
At least five of the dead were tourists who were visiting the popular tourist destination Jiuzhaigou nature reserve, local officials said. 
As many as 30,000 tourists were evacuated from the quake zone to safe areas, local officials added.
The China Earthquake Networks Center measured the earthquake at magnitude-7.0 and said it occurred around 9:20 p.m. near Jiuzhaigou and struck at a depth of 20 kilometers (12 miles).
Authorities sent medical teams, rescuers and other tourist guides to help in transporting aggrieved tourists while most of services have been restored there, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting a statement.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for all-out efforts to rapidly organize relief work and rescue the injured people, check the impact of the earthquake, evacuate and settle visitors and local people.
As the earthquake took place during the flood period and tourism season, authorities should enhance meteorological early warning and geological monitoring to guard against other disasters and try their best to protect people's lives and property, Xi added.
Premier Li Keqiang also urged local authorities to go all out in relief and monitoring work.
The quake was felt in the provincial capital Chengdu about 300 km south of the epicenter and other regions in the neighboring provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi and was followed by a number of earthquakes.
The China Earthquake Administration said that there are possibilities of quakes around 6-magnitude in the coming days.
Sichuan is a quake-prone region that had witnessed in an 8.0-magnitude earthquake in May 2008 that struck Wenchuan and killed more than 80,000 people.

Source: Mena