At least 12 people have been killed and 200 injured after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan province on Monday night.
The quake occurred at 10:55 pm on Monday, centered around the city of Yibin. Dozens of buildings collapsed in the city and in surrounding counties.
WTF. #Chengdu was struck by 5.9 richter 10km shallow depth #earthquake. I live on 22nd floor. Our building shook, I swayed. We had to run downstairs. Aftershocks are finished. I’m still not settled. #china #Sichuan pic.twitter.com/MLJhniZYc2
— Natalia Jagielska (@WryCritic) June 17, 2019
Afterward, there more than 60 aftershocks recorded including four that were above 4.0 in magnitude.
Below you can see some images of the destruction caused by the earthquake:
And video footage of the quake shaking homes and shops:
The province of Sichuan is prone to earthquake. In 2008, one of the deadliest quakes in China’s history struck the county of Wenchuan, located about 400 kilometers from Yibin, leading to the deaths of more than 87,000 people including children who died when their shoddily-built schools collapsed.
Though, in this latest case, the earthquake was particularly shallow — and thus more destructive — leading to speculation that local shale mining might be to blame.
6.1 earthquake struck China's southwestern Sichuan province just now. The epicentre is close to a shale gas mine. Remember earlier this year that 3 major quakes hit another Sichuan city with shale gas projects in 2 days. How relevant are they, seriously?
— Coco Feng (@CocoF1026) June 17, 2019
[Images via ChinaNews / NetEase]
