Severe Quake Strikes China, Leaving at Least 126 Dead and 500 Injured
A devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 has left at least 126 people dead and over 500 injured in northwest China. According to the state news agency Xinhua, the quake hit late Monday evening, causing substantial damage to roads, infrastructure, and over 6000 houses in Jishishan County, Gansu Province.
The disaster prompted several aftershocks and a magnitude 5.5 quake in Xinjiang, the western neighboring province of Gansu. Luckily, there were no immediate reports of casualties.
China's head of state and party leader, Xi Jinping, urgently called for efforts to support and rescue those affected, acknowledging the critical situation in the affected regions, as reported by Xinhua.
Several eyewitnesses in Jishishan shared their experiences of the earthquake, which left many villagers shocked and in need of assistance. Power outages and water supply interruptions, along with houses being flattened by the quake, particularly in Jishishan, made rescue operations challenging.
In the remote, largely rural area, which is widely recognized as one of the poorest in China, earthquakes have become regrettably common. In recent years, such events have occurred less frequently in populated regions, but when they do, they often result in heavy damage and several fatalities.
Earthquakes are a recurring phenomenon in the mountainous regions of western China, causing frequent disruptions. In 2010, an earthquake in Qinghai Province claimed around 2,700 lives. In 2014, the death toll reached 600 following a quake in Yunnan Province, while Sichuan Province experienced a severe earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 in 2008, leading to over 80,000 fatalities.
- After the earthquake in Gansu, Xinhua reported that several villages in the quake-affected areas in Gansu and neighboring Qinghua experienced power outages and disrupted water supplies due to the earthquake's impacts on infrastructure.
- Following the earthquake in Gansu, Xi Jinping, the head of state and party leader of China, issued a call for immediate efforts to rescue and support those affected, emphasizing the need to save lives in the affected regions.
- Earthquakes in western China are a common occurrence, particularly in the mountainous regions. These quakes often strike poorly populated areas, causing extensive damage but fewer fatalities. In recent years, notable earthquakes included the 2008 Sichuan quake, the 2010 Qinghai quake, and the 2014 Yunnan quake.
Source:
Additional Insights: Recent seismic events in western China, including the recent 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Tibet and the frequent tremors in the region, have drawn attention to the region's high seismic activity. The Tibetan Plateau, where the earthquake occurred, is known for its high seismic activity due to the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. Annually, China records approximately 2,200 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher, and approximately 916 quakes per year exceed a magnitude of 4.
China experiences many major earthquakes in historically seismically active provinces like Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, and Qinghai; these provinces have hosts of significant quakes in the past.
Research suggests that strain accumulation is closely correlated with the likelihood of strong earthquakes. However, low strain rates do not necessarily indicate a low potential for strong earthquakes, as evident in the western Chinese regions.
