Shallow M5.8 and M6.0 earthquakes hit western Sichuan, China
Image credit: TW/SAM, Google
Two shallow earthquakes registered by the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) as M5.8 (USGS M5.6) and M6.0 (USGS M5.9) hit western Sichuan, China on June 9, 2022. The first quake was registered at 16:03 UTC (00:03 LT) at a depth of 20 km (12.4 miles) and the second at 17:28 UTC (01:28 LT) at a depth of 14 km (8.7 miles). The quakes follow M6.1 (CENC; USGS M5.9) earthquake registered at 09:00 UTC on June 1.
The epicenters of today’s earthquakes were located about 254 km (158 miles) NW of Tianpeng (population 60 797), 268 km (167 miles) N of Kangding (population 100 000), and 287 km (178 miles) NW of Chengdu (population 7 415 590), Sichuan, China.
According to the USGS PAGER, 3 000 people are estimated to have felt strong shaking and 21 000 moderate.
The USGS issued a Green alert for shaking-related fatalities – there is a low likelihood of casualties; and a Yellow alert for economic losses. Some damage is possible and the impact should be relatively localized.
Estimated economic losses are less than 1% of GDP of China.
Past events with this alert level have required a local or regional level response.
Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though resistant structures exist. The predominant vulnerable building types are adobe block and unreinforced brick with mud construction.
Recent earthquakes in this area have caused secondary hazards such as landslides that might have contributed to losses.
Today’s earthquakes follow M6.1 (CENC; M5.9 USGS/EMSC) earthquake registered at 09:00 UTC on June 1.
This quake left at least 4 people dead and 14 others injured. The deaths were caused by falling rocks; all of them in Baoxing County.1
More than 4 500 people from emergency rescue, armed police, fire department, medical sector, and other departments were dispatched to the earthquake-hit areas to search for and rescue the injured, repair roads and relocate affected residents.
At the time of press, there were no reports of casualties or damage.
References:
1 Shallow M6.1 earthquake hits Sichuan, China – The Watchers – June 1, 2022
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
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