Timeline: Major earthquakes in China

BEIJING (AFP) - A strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck China's southwestern Sichuan province on Saturday, killing at least 56 people and injuring hundreds.

Here is a list of other deadly quakes in the country:

- Sept 7, 2012: Two earthquakes strike the southwestern province of Yunnan, killing at least 81 people.

- June 24, 2012: An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 hits a mountainous area on the border of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, killing at least four people and injuring more than 100.

- March 10, 2011: A quake with a 5.4 magnitude strikes a remote area of southwest China bordering with Myanmar, killing 25 and injuring 250.

- April 14, 2010: A quake with a magnitude of 6.9 kills about 2,700 people and injures another 12,000 in the northwestern province of Qinghai.

- Aug 30, 2008: Forty people die after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes Panzhihua city, Sichuan province.

- May 12, 2008: A 8.0-magnitude quake strikes Sichuan, leaving nearly 87,000 dead or missing. Another 4.45 million are injured in the worst quake disaster to hit China in more than three decades.

- July 23, 2006: 22 people are killed and 106 injured as an earthquake measuring 5.1 hits Yunnan. More than 6,000 homes are destroyed and 38,000 buildings damaged across 13 municipalities.

- Feb 24, 2003: A violent earthquake measuring 6.8 takes 268 lives in the far-western region of Xinjiang and causes significant damage.

- Jan 10, 1998: Forty-seven people are killed and 9,000 injured in a quake measuring 6.2 that in the northern province of Hebei.

- Feb 3, 1996: A quake measuring 7.0 near the city of Lijiang in Yunnan kills 228 people and seriously injures 3,700.

- Oct 24, 1995: An earthquake measuring 6.5 kills 52 in Yunnan.

- April 26, 1990: A 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Qinghai kills 126.

- Aug 23, 1985: An earthquake measuring 7.4 in Xinjiang kills 67.

- July 28, 1976: The industrial city of Tangshan, 200km east of Beijing, is levelled by an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. Beijing puts the official death toll at 242,000, with 164,000 seriously injured, although Western sources say the toll could be much higher.

- Feb 4, 1975: A quake measuring 7.3 in the northeastern province of Liaoning claims 1,300 lives.

- May 11, 1974: Ten thousand die in Sichuan and Yunnan after an earthquake of 7.1 magnitude.

- Jan 5, 1970: An earthquake measuring 7.8 in Yunnan leaves 15,621 dead.

- Dec 26, 1932: An 7.6-magnitude earthquake kills 70,000 people in the northwestern province of Gansu.

- May 23, 1927: Forty-one thousand people die in Gansu in an earthquake measuring 8.0.

- Dec 16, 1920: An earthquake measuring 8.5 in Gansu kills 230,000 people.

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