image source,xinhua
A damaged house in Moxi Town, Luding County
Officially determined by the China Earthquake Networks, at 12:52 on September 5, 2022, an earthquake of magnitude 6.8 occurred in Luding County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, with a focal depth of 16 kilometers.
“People’s Daily” quoted data from the Ganzi prefecture’s office on the morning of September 6 as saying that the death toll from the earthquake in Ganzi prefecture has now reached 37, with 12 missing. The earthquake involved 5 counties and cities of Luding, Kangding, Kowloon, Yajiang, and Danba. 243 houses have collapsed. Provincial highway S434 County, Luding County, Jinguang Village and Moxi Town, have broken roads. A section of the Asbestos Expressway was broken, and seven small and medium-sized hydropower stations were damaged.
CCTV News said on September 6 that 28 people had been killed in Shimian County, Ya’an, adjacent to the epicenter of Moxi Town.
At least 65 people have been killed and 12 lost contact with the earthquake.
“The road shakes like a wave”
The total population of Moxi Town, the epicenter of the outbreak, was 6,900, with a population density of 22 people per square kilometer (sparsely populated area). There is Hailuogou Glacier Forest Park in the area.
According to China Earthquake Networks, there are six villages (Pingshang, Shanshuping, Banbian Street, Qingshiban, Maanyao, Daozhongqiao) within 5 kilometers, and three towns (Moxi Town, Detuo) within 20 kilometers. Town, Yanzigou Town). The nearest county seat to the epicenter is Luding County, 39 kilometers away.
6.8 magnitude earthquake hits Sichuan, China
Sichuan local media cover news quoted A Wei, a witness who lives in Luding County, as saying that he was in the activity room of the Luding Senior Citizens Association at the time. “The tremor on the 11th floor was very strong,” said Ah Wei, who stayed where he was with his friends. He said that as the air conditioner in the corner collapsed, many people rushed to the stairs.
Another witness, Ma Xiaodan, said that when the earthquake occurred, he was on the road near Luqiao Town Middle School.
According to the estimation of Sichuan Earthquake Disaster Rapid Assessment System, the highest earthquake intensity reaches IX degree (9 degree). For comparison, on April 20, 2013, the Ya’an magnitude 7.0 earthquake also reached 9 degrees (9 degrees), causing 196 deaths and 11,470 injuries.
Rescue operation launched
China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said that immediately after the earthquake, the national earthquake emergency response level 3 was launched, and the National Disaster Reduction Committee and the Ministry of Emergency Management launched the national level IV disaster relief emergency response.
image source,xinhua
The staff built a temporary wooden bridge to transfer the trapped people in Mozigou Village, Moxi Town, Luding County, Ganzi Prefecture.
The Sichuan Earthquake Administration said that it will immediately start the second-level earthquake emergency response, set up an emergency headquarters, hold an emergency meeting, and make arrangements for emergency response work.
30 people from the Sichuan Provincial Fire Rescue Corps’ Luding County frontal team rushed to the epicenter to check the disaster situation. A total of 530 earthquake rescue forces from 7 detachments including Ganzi, Chengdu, Deyang, Leshan, Ya’an, Meishan, and Ziyang were rushing to the epicenter.
Local media in Sichuan reported that 90 militiamen from the Luding County Militia Emergency Company, which was closer to the epicenter, rushed to Detuo Town, which was severely affected.
Ganzi Prefecture said that relevant departments have dispatched 635 rescue forces such as armed police, firefighting, medical treatment, communication power, and smooth traffic to carry out rescue work.
image source,xinhua
On the evening of September 5, children in the temporary resettlement site in Moxi Town, Luding County.
Shakes in lockdown
The earthquake occurred during the noon break, and the quake was clearly felt in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province.
On Chinese-language social media platforms such as Weibo and WeChat, Chengdu residents showed videos of swaying chandeliers in their homes, water overflowing from shaking fish tanks, and hot pot overflowing on dining tables.
When the earthquake occurred, many places in Sichuan, including Chengdu, were under lockdown, and residents were asked to stay at home in principle. Some residents said that they evacuated urgently despite the closure order, and saw their neighbors kick open the iron gate of the high-risk isolation area.
In mid-August, Sichuan experienced rare high temperature weather. By the mid-to-late period, Sichuan, a major hydropower province, faced a crisis of electricity shortage, and industrial and commercial power consumption was greatly restricted to ensure electricity consumption for residents.
The power shortage has just eased, and a cluster of new crown infections occurred in Chengdu. In less than a week, Chengdu has reported nearly 800 confirmed cases.
On September 1, Chengdu issued a notice requesting that all residents stay at home in principle from 18:00. The announcement made Chengdu residents fully mobilized. There were long queues in supermarkets, and some vegetable vendors directly placed piles of vegetables on the street, which were quickly snapped up by residents.
The strong earthquakes that have occurred in Sichuan in recent years include:
- On September 16, 2021, an earthquake of magnitude 6 occurred in Luxian County, Sichuan Province. At least 3 people were killed, 3 people were seriously injured, 85 people were slightly injured, and more than 70,000 people were urgently transferred;
- On August 8, 2017, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Jiuzhaigou caused 24 deaths and 493 injuries;
- On April 20, 2013, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Ya’an (later named Lushan Earthquake by the China Earthquake Administration) caused 196 deaths and 11,470 injuries;
- On May 12, 2008, the Wenchuan earthquake with a magnitude of 8.2 killed nearly 70,000 people, with nearly 18,000 missing and more than 370,000 injured.