A shallow earthquake struck near Liuzhou in China’s Guangxi region, collapsing buildings and prompting a large emergency response. BNO News reported that 13 buildings had fallen by 4 a.m., while four people had been taken to hospital and three were listed as missing. The four hospitalized people were reported to be in no life-threatening danger. More than 7,000 residents were relocated as authorities responded to the damage.
The earthquake hit at 12:21 a.m. local time on Sunday. The United States Geological Survey measured it at magnitude 5.0 and placed its center about 15 miles, or 24 kilometers, from Liuzhou. China’s seismological agency gave a slightly higher magnitude of 5.2 and calculated a shallow depth of about 5 miles, or 8 kilometers.
Strong shaking was reported in Liuzhou and surrounding areas. Liuzhou has a population of more than four million, making the reports of structural damage and displacement significant even as the full extent of the effects remained unclear. Images and accounts carried in the BNO report described damage to roadside buildings, but no comprehensive assessment of the affected structures was available in the supplied information.
The BNO account did not specify the kinds of buildings that failed or whether nearby infrastructure was affected. It also gave no measured shaking intensity. With rescue work still under way, the available reporting described an emergency in progress rather than a complete damage survey.
China’s state-run Xinhua news agency said about a dozen structures had collapsed, according to the BNO report, and that several people had been trapped and injured. The figure of 13 collapsed buildings reported by 4 a.m. was broadly consistent with that initial description. Officials sent emergency personnel to the area around the epicenter to assist with earthquake relief.
The early numbers reflected a developing response. The supplied report did not establish the condition or location of the three missing people, identify the buildings that collapsed, or say how long relocated residents might remain away from their homes. It also did not provide a later casualty or damage update. Those gaps mean the initial figures should be treated as preliminary rather than a final accounting of the earthquake’s impact.
Guangxi is not described as one of China’s most seismically active regions, although earthquakes can occur along fault systems in southern China. More powerful and destructive earthquakes are more commonly associated with areas farther west, including Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. In Guangxi, the immediate priorities after Sunday’s shaking were the search for missing people, assistance for those injured or displaced, and assessment of the collapsed structures.
