China was jolted on Monday by the most powerful earthquake to hit the country since 2013. The massive 6.8 magnitude quake struck the southwest province of Sichuan. Occurring at 12:25 pm local time, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 16 kms with the epicentre being 39 kms away from the country seat of Luding in Sichuan. Over 30 people have already been confirmed dead from the natural calamity with fears that the toll could further increase.
Several villages lie within a 5 km radius from the quake’s epicentre. While over 30 were killed and 30 more reported injured as of now, around 21 million people were restricted to their houses as aftershocks continued. The quake also caused significant damage to infrastructure, including communication services, transportation, electricity and water services.
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As the death toll keeps rising hours after the earth, several videos have begun to surface on social media where locals captured the scary moment the quake struck. In one video where a car is moving on the road, a video made from inside it shows nearby trees and poles start to shake violently while debris start falling from nearby buildings.
Some other videos show food in a kitchen violently being flung out from a soup pot, chandeliers swinging wildly and water splashing out of an aquarium.
Videos also show debris raining down from high-rise buildings and a large number of landslides being triggered.
One video also showed a female giant panda rushing her two cubs out into open field as the earthquake stuck.
An all-out rescue effort has been ordered by Chinese President Xi Jinping to minimise casualties. The Sichuan province has activated the second-highest level of emergency response for the disaster with more rescue teams heading to the epicentre.
Monday’s earthquake revived memories of two devastating quakes in China when a magnitude 7 quake killed 200 people in 2013 and an unimaginable 8.2 magnitude earthquake in the same province in 2008 which killed over 69,000 people. The earthquake adds to the woes of the province which is already reeling under Covid-19 and intense droughts.
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(With inputs from agencies)
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