At least 46 people were killed when a strong earthquake struck southwestern China on Monday, state media reported, as violent tremors in a remote region damaged homes and left some areas without electricity.
The magnitude 6.6 quake hit about 43 kilometres (26 miles) southeast of the city of Kangding in Sichuan province at a depth of 10 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey.
Tremors shook buildings in the provincial capital of Chengdu -- where millions are confined to their homes under a strict Covid lockdown -- and in the nearby megacity of Chongqing, local residents told AFP.
"I felt it quite strongly. Some of my neighbours on the ground floor said they felt it very noticeably," said Chen, a resident of Chengdu.
"But because Chengdu is currently under epidemic management, people aren't allowed to leave their residential compounds, so many of them rushed out into their courtyards," she added.
At least one town had suffered "severe damage" from landslides triggered by the quake, CCTV reported.
A road to another town was blocked and telecommunications lines in areas home to more than 10,000 people were severed, the broadcaster said, adding that shocks also forced some power stations offline in the areas of Garze and Ya'an.
Footage broadcast by CCTV appeared to show damaged buildings and a street strewn with fallen masonry in Garze.
A video posted online by the China Earthquake Networks Center showed boulders thundering down mountainsides in Luding county, kicking up clouds of dust as tremors swayed roadside telephone wires.
State media reported that several aftershocks were recorded in nearby areas. A smaller magnitude 4.6 tremor hit eastern Tibet less than an hour after the initial quake, according to the USGS.
Hundreds of rescue workers were dispatched to the epicentre, CCTV reported, alongside footage of firefighters in orange jumpsuits boarding trucks and navigating a highway littered with rocks and other debris.
The Sichuan seismological authority said more than 1,000 soldiers had been sent to help rescue workers.
Authorities also sent thousands of tents, blankets and foldable beds to the affected areas, according to the broadcaster.
Other state media photos showed officials in military fatigues heaving shovels and other equipment along a highway -- all while wearing face masks as a Covid precaution.
President Xi Jinping called for local authorities to "make saving lives the first priority, go all out to rescue people in disaster-stricken areas, and minimise loss of life," according to CCTV.
A resident of Chongqing said the quake was "pretty noticeable" and that it had shaken the lights and furniture in his fifth-floor apartment.
"I was pretty scared," he told AFP, "but it didn't seem to faze people here."
Summer of extremes
Earthquakes are fairly common in China, especially in the country's seismically active southwest.
A magnitude 8.0 quake in 2008 in Sichuan's Wenchuan county left tens of thousands dead and caused enormous damage.
At least four people were killed and dozens more injured after two earthquakes in southwestern China in June.
That month a shallow 6.1-magnitude shock hit a sparsely populated area about 100 kilometres west of Chengdu.
It was followed three minutes later by a second quake of magnitude 4.5 in a nearby county, where the deaths and injuries occurred.
Earthquake death toll rises to 65 in Sichuan, China as aftershocks rattle province
At least 65 people are confirmed dead after an earthquake hit China's southwestern Sichuan province on Monday, according to Chinese broadcaster CCTV.
Aftershocks were still being felt on Tuesday, state media said, a day after the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said a 6.6-magnitude quake shook the region southwest of Sichuan's capital Chengdu around 1 p.m. Monday.
So far 248 injuries have been reported and at least 12 people remain missing, according to state media.
Images showed rescue workers carrying injured residents over makeshift bridges in Luding County, near the quake's epicenter.
Rescuers transfer injured people in Luding county, Ganzi prefecture, Sichuan Province.
The USGS said quake's epicenter was about 43 kilometers (27 miles) southeast of Kangding, a city of around 100,000 people. Over a million residents in surrounding areas are estimated to have experienced moderate tremors in the aftermath of the quake, it added.
Some homes were severely damaged in the quake, with images appearing to show whole buildings had collapsed into piles of bricks and wooden beams.
Death toll rises to 93 after powerful earthquake in China's Sichuan
The death toll from a magnitude-6.8 earthquake that struck southwest China's Sichuan Province on September 5 has risen to 93, with 25 people still missing, China Media Group reported on Monday.
The toll from the quake hit 55 in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, while another 38 people were confirmed dead in Ya'an City.
„“And when you hear of fightings and reports of fightings, do not be troubled – it has to take place, but the end is not yet. “For nation shall rise against nation, and reign against reign. And there shall be earthquakes in various places, and there shall be scarcities of food, and disturbances. These are the beginnings of birth-pains.“
Marqos (Mark) 13:7-8 TS2009
„“And you shall begin to hear of fightings and reports of fightings. See that you are not troubled, for these have to take place, but the end is not yet. “For nation shall rise against nation, and reign against reign. And there shall be scarcities of food, and deadly diseases, and earthquakes in places. “And all these are the beginning of birth pains.“
Mattithyahu (Matthew) 24:6-8 TS2009
„But when you hear of fightings and unrests, do not be alarmed, for these have to take place first, but the end is not immediately. Then He said to them, “Nation shall rise against nation, and reign against reign. “And there shall be great earthquakes in various places, and scarcities of food and deadly diseases. And there shall be horrors, and great signs from heaven.“
Luqas (Luke) 21:9-11 TS2009
„And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” And I looked and saw a green horse. And he who sat on it had the name Death, and She’ol followed with him. And authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the earth.“
Ḥazon (Revelation) 6:7-8 TS2009
„And I looked when He opened the sixth seal and saw a great earthquake came to be. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. And the stars of the heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its unripe figs, being shaken by a strong wind. And heaven departed like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the sovereigns of the earth, and the great ones, and the rich ones, and the commanders, and the mighty, and every slave and every free one, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him sitting on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”“
Marqos (Mark) 13:7-8 TS2009
„“And you shall begin to hear of fightings and reports of fightings. See that you are not troubled, for these have to take place, but the end is not yet. “For nation shall rise against nation, and reign against reign. And there shall be scarcities of food, and deadly diseases, and earthquakes in places. “And all these are the beginning of birth pains.“
Mattithyahu (Matthew) 24:6-8 TS2009
„But when you hear of fightings and unrests, do not be alarmed, for these have to take place first, but the end is not immediately. Then He said to them, “Nation shall rise against nation, and reign against reign. “And there shall be great earthquakes in various places, and scarcities of food and deadly diseases. And there shall be horrors, and great signs from heaven.“
Luqas (Luke) 21:9-11 TS2009
„And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” And I looked and saw a green horse. And he who sat on it had the name Death, and She’ol followed with him. And authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the earth.“
Ḥazon (Revelation) 6:7-8 TS2009
„And I looked when He opened the sixth seal and saw a great earthquake came to be. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. And the stars of the heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its unripe figs, being shaken by a strong wind. And heaven departed like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the sovereigns of the earth, and the great ones, and the rich ones, and the commanders, and the mighty, and every slave and every free one, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him sitting on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”“
Ḥazon (Revelation) 6:12-17 TS2009