7.0 magnitude quake hits China, 72 killed

Beijing, Apr 20: At least 72 people were killed and hundreds of others injured today when a powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked southwest China's Sichuan province causing massive destruction.

The quake hit Lushan county of Ya'an city in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 8:02 am local time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC). The epicenter of the earthquake was reported to be at a depth of 13 Kms and was monitored at 30.3 degrees north latitude and 103.0 degrees east longitude.

At least 72 people were killed and 600 others injured, China's state-run CCTV reported, while officials said the number of injured people could be over a thousand.

This is the second major quake to hit Sichuan in five years.

Over 90,000 people were killed in the 8-magnitude quake in 2008. The province is located in the quake prone Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Sichuan is located close to the Tibet.

Pictures on the state run CCTV showed extensive damage to buildings. The quake was strongly felt by residents in Sichuan's capital city of Chengdu, which is about 140 kilometres from Ya'an. The airport in Chengdu was closed as it suffered the damage.

A resident in Chengdu, who was on the 13th floor of a building said he felt the building shaking for about 20 seconds and he saw tiles fall off nearby buildings, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

People in Leshan city of Sichuan Province, and neighbouring Chongqing Municipality also felt the earthquake.

More than 2,000 soldiers were rushed to the area hit by the 7.0-magnitude quake for rescue and relief work, military sources said. The soldiers were from the Chengdu Military Area Command (MAC).

Meanwhile, two helicopters of the Chengdu MAC took off from Jiajiang county to learn the developments on the ground. The Chengdu MAC has already set up a quake relief and rescue headquarters. It has also set up a medical relief team for the quake-hit region.

People in Leshan city of Sichuan Province, and neighboring Chongqing Municipality also felt the earthquake. The quake was felt in provinces of Guizhou, Gansu, Shaanxi and Yunnan. Several aftershocks rated above 4.0-magnitude also hit the area.

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Explosive new Epstein files reveal Donald Trump raped 13-year-old girl, murdered newborn

News Network

January 31,2026

The US Department of Justice has released millions of new documents linked to the case of convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, before removing some pages that contained complaints mentioning President Donald Trump.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Friday that approximately 3.5 million files were published to comply with the Epstein Transparency Act, following criticism that the administration had missed a December 19 deadline set by Congress.

The documents include FBI communications and complaints submitted as tips, some of which list comments mentioning Trump and others who had social or professional ties to Epstein.

Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to his past association with Epstein.

Pages removed from DOJ website

After their publication, pages containing complaints that mentioned Trump were removed from the DOJ website and now return a “page not found” message. Copies of the documents, however, have circulated widely on social media. CNN anchor Jake Tapper was among those who publicly noted that the pages had been taken down.

One complaint, filed by a friend of a victim, says Trump forced a girl aged 13–14 to perform “oral sex” approximately 35 years ago in New Jersey. The document states that an investigator was sent to Washington to conduct an interview.

Another complaint says Trump regularly paid an individual to perform sexual acts and adds that he was present when her newborn child was murdered by a relative. The paperwork notes that there was “no contact made” with the complainant.

A separate complaint, which provided no contact information, said “calendar girls” parties at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago involved children and sexual abuse. The document also names several public figures as present at such events.

In another account, a complainant said they witnessed a “sex trafficking ring” at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, in the mid-1990s. The person noted “threats” from Trump’s head of security if she spoke publicly about what she had seen.

Other figures mentioned in the files

The latest release also includes a draft email Epstein wrote to himself in 2013, referring to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. In the message, Epstein said Gates asked him to delete emails and referenced “personal matters.”

The DOJ has not provided a detailed explanation for why certain pages were removed after publication. The department said the document release was ongoing.

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