On the evening of August 8, 2017, an earthquake shook the mountainous region of northwest Sichuan, China. A popular tourist destination in China, the Jiuzhaigou nature reserve receives 5 million visitors per year; just days before the earthquake they welcomed 41,000 people.
Two weeks after the quake, there are still conflicting reports on the size and magnitude of this earthquake. The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported the earthquake was measured at a 6.5 magnitude, west southwest from the epicenter in Yongle. Whereas Xinhua, a Chinese news agency, announced the earthquake hit a 7.0 magnitude, citing the China Earthquake Networks Center as their source.
The earthquake injured 520 people and killed 25, including six tourists. President Xi Jinping urged for the deployment of relief service organizations to rescue stranded and injured individuals in the southwest region.
The Red Cross Society of China mobilized emergency specialists and volunteers to provide relief services to assess other damages in the region. “The quake hit at night, communications lines and electricity are disrupted and people are no doubt shocked and scared”, reported Gwendolyn Pang, Head of the International Federation of Red Cross Country Cluster Support Team in Beijing.
According to the USGS tectonic summary, the earthquake occurred because of a “shallow strike-slip faulting” within the interior of the Eurasian plate. The epicenter of this earthquake was pinpointed several miles away from where the Indian and Eurasian plate converge to form the Himalayan Mountains.
This is not the first time Sichuan, China felt an earthquake of this magnitude. In 2008, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake devastated the region, killing approximately 87,000 people and displacing 4,800,000 people from their homes. BBC listed the event as the seventh deadliest earthquake between 1900 and 2013.
Rescuers find bodies after China quake kills 19, injures 247 – The Washington Post
Jiuzhaigou’s tourism industry ponders its future after quake – South China Morning Post
Widespread damage after earthquake – The Star Online