China quake: at least 19 confirmed dead

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At least 19 people are now confirmed dead and around 250 others have been hurt following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China’s south-western Sichuan province.

Several tourists are reported to be among those killed.

The quake hit a sparsely populated area some 200 km northwest of the city of Guangyuan late on Tuesday at a depth of 10 km.

A few hours later a separate tremor measuring a magnitude of 6.6 hit China’s remote northwestern region of Xinjang.

Sichuan is frequently struck by quakes. In 2008, around 80,000 people died after a massive tremor struck the province.