Southwest China earthquake leaves three dead and 60 injured
According to state-run media, an earthquake struck China’s Sichuan province on Thursday, killing three people and injuring 60.
On an 8-point scale, local authorities assigned the earthquake a magnitude of 6.0, whereas the US Geological Survey (USGS) assigned a value of 5.4.
According to the USGS, the earthquake struck in the early morning hours, with the epicenter about 52 kilometers (32.3 miles) southwest of Chongqing’s Yongchuan district and an initial depth of 10 kilometers.
The Global Times; a state-run newspaper, reports that 1,221 homes have collapsed and almost 3,000 others have been seriously damaged.
Xinhua; a state-run news site; reports that Chinese authorities began rescue attempts early on Sunday morning, activating a level 2 reaction, the second-highest in China’s four-level seismic emergency response system.
One of the hardest impacted locations was Luzhou City, which has a population of around 5 million people. In addition to rescue equipment, medical supplies, temporary surgical vehicles; heavy gear, thousands of military and emergency workers have been dispatched to assist in the rescue attempt. A nearby village has set up tents for evacuees.
According to Xinhua, experts believe a more powerful earthquake is unlikely, but there may be aftershocks.
The province of Sichuan lies along with one of China’s seismic fault lines, making it vulnerable to earthquakes. Although earthquakes are common in Luzhou, locals tell the Global Times, they are normally of a lesser magnitude — and Thursday’s quake was substantially greater than average.
There have been numerous large earthquakes along the Longmenshan Fault, a tectonic fault running across the Sichuan Mountains. That’s where the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, also known as the Wenchuan earthquake, hit.
With heavy investments in disaster preparedness since 2008; the country has upgraded buildings in earthquake-prone areas and held regular drills for emergency personnel as well as schoolchildren. According to Reuters, Beijing has also allocated tens of millions of dollars to the development of seismology and satellites.
