On September 3, 2022, residents in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China, line up for required COVID-19 examinations. Future Publishing/CFOTO/Getty
Beijing — At least seven people were killed after a powerful earthquake slammed southern China on Monday, according to official media, as intense tremors in a rural location damaged homes and left some parts without power. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the magnitude 6.6 earthquake occurred approximately 26 miles southeast of the city of Kangding in Sichuan province at a depth of approximately six miles.
Local people told AFP that tremors shook buildings in the provincial capital of Chengdu, where millions are confined to their homes due to a rigorous COVID lockdown, and in the nearby megacity of Chongqing.
CCTV stated that at least seven people perished and at least one town sustained “serious damage” as a result of mountain landslides sparked by the earthquake.
According to CCTV, a road leading to another town was blocked and communications lines in areas containing more than 10,000 people were severed.
According to the broadcaster, the tremors also rendered some power plants inoperable in Garze and Ya’an.
Chen, a Chengdu native, remarked, “I felt it extremely intensely.”
“Some of my ground-floor neighbors reported feeling it really strongly,” she continued. “However, because Chengdu is currently under epidemic management, residents are not permitted to leave their residential compounds; hence, a large number of them raced out into their courtyards.”
Here is what a typical day under China’s extensive COVID testing system looks like at 02:06
A video uploaded online by the China Earthquake Networks Center depicted rocks crashing down mountain slopes in the afflicted county of Luding, blowing up clouds of dust as roadside telephone wires trembled.
State-run media stated that a number of aftershocks were detected in the region. According to the USGS, a magnitude 4.6 tremor struck eastern Tibet less than an hour after the initial quake.
According to state television CGTN, hundreds of emergency professionals were deployed to the epicenter while workers sought to remove roads blocked by landslides.
Photos broadcast by state media depicted personnel in military fatigues carrying shovels and other equipment down a highway while wearing face masks as a precaution against COVID-19.
China rejects WHO criticism of its “zero-COVID” approach. 03:13
A Chongqing resident reported that the earthquake was “very visible” and that it shook the lights and furniture in his apartment on the fifth level.
“I was quite frightened,” he told AFP, “but it didn’t appear to bother anyone here.”
China has frequent earthquakes, particularly in the seismically active southwest.
In 2008, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake in the county of Wenchuan, Sichuan, killed tens of thousands of people and caused extensive damage.
In June, at least four people were killed and dozens more were injured as a result of two earthquakes in southern China.
A shallow 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck a sparsely populated region 60 miles west of Chengdu that month.
Three minutes later, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck in a nearby county, where deaths and injuries occurred.
On Sunday, authorities in Chengdu extended the citywide quarantine in response to hundreds of COVID cases.
The region has also seen an extraordinary summer, with rivers in Chongqing becoming considerably drier due to a record-breaking warmth.