At Least 65 People Dead as 6.5 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Southwestern China

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern China on Monday, September 5, killing at least 65 people which was also felt in Chengdu by millions of people who are currently in a strict COVID-19 lockdown. The epicenter of the massive quake reportedly occurred about 26 miles (43 kilometers) southeast of the city of Kangding in the Sichuan province in Southwest China.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported 17 people died in the city of Ya'an as a result of the violent seismic disturbance, which also left 29 individuals dead in the neighboring Ganzi prefecture. In addition, 16 others were missing and 50 were injured, according to the local TV network. The intense tremors also shook buildings in Sichuan's provincial capital and the nearby city of Chongqing.

China 6.5 Magnitude Earthquake

State media reported that multiple aftershocks occurred in nearby areas. A 4.6-magnitude earthquake transpired in eastern Tibet less than an hour following the colossal quake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), as cited by The Guardian.

The quake also led to mountain landslides, causing severe damage to at least one town. Meanwhile, a road to another town was blocked and telecommunications lines in communities housing over 10,000 people were severed, according to the state broadcaster, as cited by the UK media outlet.

Around 150 people were reported to have incurred vary degrees of injuries when buildings and a home collapsed in the town of Moxi in Luding County, according to information from rescue crews from CCTV, as cited ABC News.

Almost 250 others were being treated for injuries, including dozens who had critical wounds, according to the Chinese state media, as cited by Reuters.

China's Deadliest Earthquakes

China is also prone to earthquakes, ranging between moderate to high intensity, as well as resulting in infrastructural damage and casualties. In recent months, two earthquakes struck the Sichuan in June; leaving at leas four people dead and resulting in widespread disruption.

Since 20^th century, some of China's deadliest earthquakes include the 1976 Tangshan earthquake which killed over 300,000 people and the Wenchuan earthquake or the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that killed nearly 90,000 people.

Why Earthquakes Occur in China?

According to the USGS, China, along with Iran and Turkey, are situated in seismically active areas. Having a significantly long historical records, the said countries had incurred many catastrophic earthquakes.

As for China, it is surrounded by tectonic plates affecting countries like India and Tibet. China is also a sea away from Japan, which the USGS considers to be the nation with the greatest number of earthquake incidents.

The US seismic monitoring agency says this is because the whole country is situated in a very active seismic area and have the densest seismic network on Earth.

In addition, the East Asian country sits over the Eurasian Plate, a plate tectonic boundary which also covers Europe and Russia. In southern China, the Yangtze plate, also called the South China Block or the South China Subplate, is part of the Eurasian Plate.

The minor plate is also bounded to the East by Amur, Okinawa, Sunda, and Philippine plates.