A 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit China’s southwestern province of Sichuan on Monday, killing at least 46 people and leaving 16 missing in subsequent landslides.
The 21 million residents already affected by COVID-19 lockdowns suffered a magnitude-6.8 earthquake that shook China’s southwestern province of Sichuan on Monday. A landslide and shaking of buildings occurred in Chengdu, the provincial capital.According to reports, the earthquake hit the mountainous area of Luding County just after noon, located on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, where tectonic plates meet. Sichuan is regularly hit by earthquakes. In June, the area had two earthquakes that killed at least four people.According to the Chinese state news agency, 29 people were killed in the ancient town of Moxi in the Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Garze. Power was cut, and structures were destroyed. Tents had been set up for the more than 50,000 individuals who were relocated from residences that had become hazardous due to the earthquake. Many of the structures are made of a combination of wood and brick.
In addition to the fatalities, police stated that rocks and earth fell from the mountainside, damaging homes and cutting off power. A rural route was closed by one landslide and was covered in rock-strewn debris.
Seismic reports show the shaking was felt at a distance of 125 miles away in Chengdu.
Due to Sichuan’s dependency on hydropower, a hot wave and drought that preceded the earthquake caused water shortages and power outages. This comes after China’s most recent significant shutdown in accordance with its tight ZERO-COVID policy.
At a comparatively shallow depth of 6 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey measured a magnitude of 6.6 for the earthquake that occurred on Monday, but Different agencies’ first measurements may vary somewhat.
According to reports, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Sichuan in 2008 and killed approximately 90,000 people was the worst earthquake to strike China in recent memory. The earthquake outside Chengdu destroyed towns, schools, and rural settlements, sparking a years-long campaign to rebuild with more substantial materials.
