A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Southwestern China on Monday, causing property damage and an energy blackout in several parts.
In the Sichuan province, telecommunications links were broken in places with more than 10,000 residents, and several roads were blocked by landslides, according to authorities.
Deadly Earthquake Triggers Landslides in China
The shaking was felt hundreds of kilometers distant in the towns of Xian and Changsha during this quake, which was the strongest to strike the area since 2017. The China Earthquake Networks Centre reported that the epicenter was located in the town of Luding at a focal depth of 10 miles. In Luding, four people were killed.
Lampshades were seen hanging in posts on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Monday. Chengdu, the provincial capital and a metropolis of nearly 21 million people, is located around 140 miles from the epicenter. According to state television, there were more than 30 fatalities reported as the current death toll.
Chengdu resident Laura Luo watched people running out of their high-rise residences in fear after receiving earthquake warnings on their phones as she made her way to her apartment building. As reported by China News Service, the quake in Luding was so intense that some people found it difficult to stay standing, and some of the houses showed signs of cracking, Daily Mail reported.
A COVID-19 pandemic in Chengdu, the province capital, 200 kilometers distant, caused most of its 21 million citizens to be confined to their homes as part of China's rigorous zero-COVID 19 policy.
Jiang Danli, a resident, claimed that although many of her neighbors hurried downstairs, she hid behind a desk in her flat on the 31st floor for five minutes. Due to Sichuan's dependence on hydropower, a heatwave and drought that followed the earthquake and shutdown resulted in water shortages and power outages.
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Over 500 Rescue Staff Were Dispatched to the Epicenter
Jiang siad that the last two months in Chengdu have been odd. The earthquake, which occurred at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers, was measured by the US Geological Survey as having a magnitude of 6.6. Different agencies' first measurements may vary somewhat, as per ABC.
Buildings in Chengdu and the nearby megacity of Chongqing were shaken by tremors, which also interrupted communication lines and obstructed highways in places with more than 10,000 inhabitants.
More than 500 rescuers have been deployed to the epicenter, state media CGTN while personnel work to clear landslide-caused barriers. Residents in Chengdu reported seeing scared residents evacuate their high-rise buildings after receiving earthquake notifications on their phones.
The most recent catastrophe occurred months after an earthquake in Sichuan, China, with a magnitude of 6.1. Sichuan is an earthquake-prone region due to its location near the eastern boundary of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau.
A magnitude-7.9 earthquake that struck Sichuan in 2008 and left about 90,000 people dead was the deadliest earthquake to strike China in modern memory. Outside of Chengdu, it utterly destroyed towns, schools, and rural settlements, sparking a protracted attempt to rebuild with stronger materials, according to BBC.
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