Earthquake In Southwest China Kills 65 As Millions In Region Are Under Lockdown

Breaking Business Earthquake In Southwest China Kills 65 As Millions In Region Are Under Lockdown Siladitya Ray Forbes Staff Covering breaking news and tech policy stories at Forbes. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Sep 6, 2022, 06:37am EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline At least 65 people have died and hundreds have been injured by Monday’s earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province, Chinese state media reported on Tuesday, a natural disaster that comes amid a rise in Covid cases that triggered a lockdown in the region’s capital city, Chengdu.

Houses collapse in Luding county, Ganzi prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. Future Publishing via Getty Images Key Facts According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, the 6. 8 magnitude earthquake has left at least 248 people injured while 12 remain missing so far.

Several buildings have been damaged and power has been disrupted in the Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Ganzi, where at least 37 have died. At least 28 others have died on the outskirts of Ya’an city which is home to 1. 4 million residents.

The earthquake has also caused landslides in the region leading to further damage to houses, the Associated Press reported , citing the state-run broadcaster CCTV. Despite being located 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the epicenter of Monday’s earthquake, tremors were also felt in Sichuan’s capital Chengdu—where 21 million people are under a stringent lockdown due to a rise in local Covid-19 cases. Big Number 1,666.

That’s how many new Covid cases China’s National Health Commission reported , including 185 new cases in the Sichuan Province. The outbreak has been concentrated in the province’s capital, Chengdu. Tangent Chengdu’s residents have been under lockdown since September 1 as part of China’s zero-Covid approach, and according to the Washington Post , some people were ordered to not leave their apartments while they were experiencing tremors.

One building manager reportedly told the residents it was “safest” to stay indoors “no matter how severe the earthquake is”—something that flies in the face of convention when it comes to earthquakes. As the city remains locked down, authorities are carrying out large-scale mass testing in an effort to stomp out the local spread of the virus. The pandemic control measures in the midst of a natural disaster has caused anger among the city residents who are accusing local authorities of prioritizing Covid measures.

Key Background Sichuan was also the location of the deadliest recent earthquake in China—an 8. 0 magnitude seismic disaster that resulted in the deaths of nearly 90,000 people in 2008. It has been a difficult year for Sichuan as it faced a record-breaking heat wave and drought during the summer triggering an energy crisis in the region that produces 30% of China’s hydroelectric power.

Factories and households in the province—which is a manufacturing hub—had to face rolling power cuts for at least two weeks amid the crisis. Further Reading Earthquake kills 65, triggers landslides in southwest China (Associated Press) Earthquake in China’s Sichuan leads to outcry over covid lockdown (Washington Post) Follow me on Twitter . Send me a secure tip .

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