Janice R. Andrews
A strong magnitude 7.1 earthquake slammed the sparsely inhabited Uchturpan county in western China’s Xinjiang region early on Tuesday, causing significant damage to the area and at least three fatalities. This was a catastrophic turn of events. The earthquake, which struck just after two in the morning, caused 78 residences to sustain damage in addition to the collapse of 47 homes.
Rescue operations were launched quickly, and by midday, about a thousand rescue workers were on the scene. According to the most recent data, Uchturpan County has seen three fatalities and five injuries. Official announcements from Xinhua claim that emergency survival material, like as coats, tents, and folding beds, has been sent to assist the thousands of people who had to flee their houses.
Even though the earthquake was strong, its epicentre was about 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) above sea level in a sparsely populated mountainous area. The chief of the Xinjiang Earthquake Administration, Zhang Yongjiu, said during a press conference that although the quake was strong, the number of fatalities and injuries was not as high as expected.
The impacted area has been the target of a state campaign of mass detention and forced assimilation. The Uyghur ethnic group, which makes up the majority of the population, is Muslim. The region is highly militarised; in state broadcaster CCTV footage, paramilitary personnel were seen entering to clean debris and erect tents for displaced citizens.
The earthquake, which occurred in the seismically active Tian Shan mountain range, was recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey as having a magnitude of 7.0. There have been several aftershocks reported, the greatest of which registered at magnitude 5.3.
In a different instance, searchers are trying to find people buried in a landslip in the village of Liangshui in the southwest Chinese province of Yunnan. According to state media, twenty bodies have been found, while 24 people are still unaccounted for. With predicted lows of minus 18 degrees Celsius, the impacted area is suffering from cold temperatures.
Tremors from the earthquake could be felt hundreds of kilometres away, hitting Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, two nearby nations. To give people time to recuperate from the shock, people in Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, evacuated their homes, and courses were suspended in both Xinjiang and Kazakhstan.
This earthquake comes after a run of recent landslides and earthquakes in the western part of China. The region is still dealing with the fallout from December’s 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Gansu, which was China’s deadliest earthquake in nine years and left 151 people dead. As the impacted communities start the process of healing and reconstruction, their resilience will be put to the test once more.
