An Earthquake of 5.5 magnitude on a Richter scale hit Dezhou city in the Shandong Province located in the Eastern region of China, at 2:33 am local time on Sunday, injuring 21 people, receiving treatment at Pingyuan County First People’s Hospital. No deaths have been reported so far.
The earthquake struck with its epicentre located at 36.44 degrees north latitude and 70.80 degrees east longitude. The epicentre had an initial depth of 198.7 km. However, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center, the earthquake’s actual depth at the epicentre was measured to be 10 km (approximately 6.21 miles). A similar report from GFZ also confirmed the quake’s depth to be 10 km.
This earthquake was the biggest earthquake to strike Shandong province in the past ten years with 59 aftershocks detected. Earthquakes are common in China but not in the eastern part of the country, where a large portion of the population and major cities are located.
This was the first time a 5 magnitude or higher earthquake occurred within a 50km radius of the Shandong Province. Larger aftershocks were minimal and unlikely. Liu Xiqiang, the deputy director of the Shandong Earthquake Agency, said.
The earthquake’s tremors were reported in several areas in northern China, including Tianjin, provinces of Henan and Hebei, with reports indicating that the quake was felt as far away as Shanghai, approximately 800 kilometers from the epicenter, and even in Beijing, which is over 300 kilometers away from the epicenter, according to The Beijing Municipal Earthquake Bureau.
Injuries of 21 people from the provinces of Dezhou and Liaocheng, 126 buildings collapse and no fatalities have so far been reported by Xinhua.
Many Chinese netizens shared their experiences of the earthquake on the Chinese social media, Weibo. One Chinese netizen from Hebei province, Shandong’s neighboring region, shared on Weibo that he felt intense tremors during the earthquake like he was having a nightmare. Another shared how scary the Earthquake was.
TV broadcasters captured Dezhou residents seeking refuge outside, sitting on sidewalks in the early morning darkness.
CCTV reported that only old dirt buildings, which were uninhabited, collapsed during the earthquake. They showed footage of undamaged buildings and pieces of exterior walls that were damaged and were stripped from the Houses.
Local Authorities’ response to the Earthquake in China
China’s Ministry of Emergency Management and China’s office of the State Council earthquake relief headquarters launched a Level-IV emergency response after the earthquake, reported by CCTV (state Media).
Additionally, The ministry dispatched a team to the site of the earthquake including 93 firefighters to the province of Shandong for rescue and relief work, Xinhua reported.
Local authorities of the Shandong Province took immediate action by initiating an emergency response to establish a joint command with the local government to oversee disaster relief operations . They also deployed 7 rescue stations and 16 fire engines on the site.
Red Alert was issued with regard to the estimated damage and casualties probable by the USGS’s PAGER system, assessing previous data on the impact of the earthquakes.
Railways services were halted due to the Earthquake. Beijing Railway cancelled more than 60 trains in response to the earthquake in the region and the Beijing-Shanghai high speed rail line which is the busiest rail line was also affected.
Gas Supplies were also temporarily cut as authorities took the precautionary measures to assess potential damage to pipelines caused by the earthquake. Xinhua news agency reported that no leaks were found in oil and gas pipelines as well.
However, according to the provincial bureau of emergency response, transportation, communication, and power/electricity supply remained unaffected in the area.
