Sichuan, China: The quake left three dead and 60 injured

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Local authorities placed the quake at 6.0 degrees magnitude, while the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) placed it at 5.4 degrees magnitude on an 8-point scale.

The quake occurred early in the morning, with the epicenter located about 52 kilometers (32.3 miles) southwest of Yongchuan District in Chongqing, with an initial depth of 10 kilometers, according to USGS.

The photos show damaged buildings with blown windows and rubble-covered exterior flooring, including fallen trees and bricks from collapsed walls.

At least 1,221 homes have fallen and more than 3,000 have been severely damaged, according to state newspaper The Global Times.

“I woke up with the tremor and saw the chandelier in my room swaying dramatically and the desk trembling,” a resident, surnamed Tang, told the Global Times. “An earthquake of this magnitude has not occurred for a long time.”

Chinese authorities began rescue efforts in the morning, with the provincial government activating a level 2 response, the second-highest emergency response system to China’s four-level earthquakes, according to state-run Xinhua Newspaper .

The city of Luzhou, home to about five million residents, was among the hardest hit areas. Thousands of soldiers and emergency workers have been sent to rescue operations, along with rescue equipment, medical supplies, makeshift surgical vehicles and heavy machinery. Tents have been set up for evacuees in a nearby village.
A decade later, the pain of the deadly Sichuan earthquake is still being felt

Experts say a more serious earthquake is unlikely, although there may be aftershocks, according to Xinhua.

Sichuan is located along one of China’s several seismic belts that make it prone to earthquakes. A local Luzhou employee told the Global Times that while residents are accustomed to earthquakes, they are usually smaller in magnitude and that Thursday’s earthquake was significantly stronger than average.

Several major earthquakes have occurred along a tectonic boundary, in particular the Longmenshan Fault, which traverses the Sichuan Mountains. There was the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, also known as the Wenchuan earthquake.

The devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake, near the top of the scale, killed nearly 90,000 people and caused tremors in cities more than 900 miles away. Even ten years later, not all of the damage from the quake was repaired and survivors told CNN they were still wearing deep scars.

The 2008 earthquake also highlighted the poor building standards and building standards, widespread at the time, as megacities were built at breakneck speed during China’s economic and urban boom.

Although at the time the authorities severely repressed activists and critics who demanded accountability, provoking public outrage, the government ended up tightening regulations and tightening their enforcement.

Since 2008, the country has invested heavily in disaster preparedness, in the adaptation of buildings in earthquake-prone areas, and in the implementation of earthquake drills for emergency and school workers. Beijing has also directed tens of millions of dollars into seismic sciences and developing satellites, according to Reuters.

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