Shallow M5.1 earthquake hits Zhangye, China
Image credit: Google, TW/SAM
A shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M5.1 (downgraded from M5.5) hit Zhangye, China at 12:48 UTC (20:48 LT) on September 16, 2019. The agency is reporting a depth of 18.5 km (11.49 miles). EMSC is reporting M5.5 at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) reports is at M5.1 at a depth of 11 km (6.8 miles).
The epicenter was located 45.7 km (28.4 miles) SSW of Zhangye (population 100 000) and 170 km (105.8 miles) W of Jinchang, Gansu (population 144 363).
There are about 1 140 000 people living within 100 km (62 miles) and 490 000 within 50 km (31 miles).
7 000 people are estimated to have felt moderate shaking.
The USGS issued a green alert for shaking related fatalities and economic losses (economic losses were yellow with initial M5.5 report).
Image credit: Google, TW/SAM
Regional seismicity
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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