The earthquake struck a mountainous area in Luding County shortly after noon, the China Earthquake Network Center said. Sichuan, which sits on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau where the tectonic plates meet, is regularly hit by earthquakes. Two earthquakes in June killed at least four people. The death toll rose to 30 as searches for those trapped continued Monday night, state media reported. Earlier, authorities had reported 7 deaths in Luding County and 14 more in neighboring Shimian County to the south. Three of the dead were workers in the Hailuogou Scenic Area, a glacier and forest nature reserve. Along with the deaths, authorities said rocks and dirt fell from mountainsides, causing damage to homes and power outages, state broadcaster CCTV reported. A landslide blocked a rural highway, leaving it strewn with rocks, the Ministry of Emergency Management said. Buildings shook in Chengdu, 200 kilometers (125 miles) away from the epicenter. Resident Jiang Danli said she hid under a desk for five minutes in her 31st-floor apartment. Many of her neighbors rushed downstairs, wary of aftershocks. “There was a strong earthquake in June, but it wasn’t too scary. This time I was very scared, because I live on a high floor and I was shaking with dizziness,” he told the Associated Press. The earthquake and lockdown follow a heat wave and drought that has led to water shortages and power outages due to Sichuan’s reliance on hydropower. This comes on top of the latest major lockdown under China’s strict “zero COVID-19” policy. The last two months in Chengdu “have been strange,” Jiang said. The US Geological Survey registered a magnitude of 6.6 for Monday’s quake at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). Preliminary measurements from different agencies often differ slightly. China’s deadliest earthquake in recent years was a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in 2008 that killed nearly 90,000 people in Sichuan. The quake destroyed towns, schools and rural communities outside Chengdu, prompting a years-long effort to rebuild with more durable materials.
