BEIJING-(MaraviPost)— At least 21 people have died and several others injured after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck China’s Sichuan province on Monday, September, 5, 2022.
Authorities confirmed the disaster adding that roads and homes near the epicentre were severely damaged by landslides caused by the quake and communications were down following the tragedy.
According to China Earthquake Networks Center, the quake struck a mountainous area in the country shortly after noon and the epicentre is believed to be the town of Luding, in the mountains about 226 km southwest of Chengdu.
Although no damage to dams and hydropower stations within 50 km (31 miles) of the epicentre was reported, the quake affected the power supply to about 40,000 end-users.
The earthquake comes amid a devastating heat wave and drought that has led to water shortages and power cuts due to Sichuan’s reliance on hydropower which also comes on top of the latest major lockdown under China’s strict zero-COVID policy.
Sichuan, which sits on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau where tectonic plates meet, is regularly hit by earthquakes.
In June, two quakes killed at least four people and prior to this, nearly 90,000 died in Sichuan after an earthquake of 7.9 magnitude struck the area in 2008
