6 Earthquakes Strike China’s Sichuan Province, Triggering Cracks and Landslides

On Aug. 3, a series of six powerful earthquakes struck Gao County in Yibin, Sichuan Province, within just 13 hours, with the strongest measuring magnitude 4.8, according to data from China Earthquake Networks Center. The tremors were felt across Yibin, Luzhou, Chengdu, and surrounding areas, causing road damage, landslides, and renewed public concern over a surge in seismic activity across China.

The first quake struck at 2:21 a.m. at a depth of six kilometers, prompting Chinese authorities to activate a Level IV emergency response. Five additional earthquakes followed throughout the day, ranging from magnitude 3.0 to 4.2, with the final tremor recorded at 1:00 p.m.

RELATED: Rescuers Search for Survivors After Magnitude 7.1 Earthquake Hits Southern Japan

Cluster of quakes

Videos circulating on Chinese social media showed a large crack splitting across a roadway, with one capturing rocks cascading down a mountainside, causing severe damage and blocking traffic. Filming the damaged road, one eyewitness could be heard saying, “Oh my God, look how deep this is! Wow… Hurry! No, I have to run, this is too dangerous!”

Another resident wrote, “This really is the year of landslides and collapsing mountains! Even a moderate earthquake in Yibin caused roads to crack and mountainsides to collapse.” Other videos and social media posts claimed that falling rocks had crushed at least one house that looked covered in debris.

For the best of our weekly content！

You are now signed up for our newsletter

Check your email to complete sign up

Residents also described their anxiety after enduring repeated tremors in recent months. One woman said in a widely-shared video: “Last night’s shaking hadn’t even sunk in before it started again. My hands went weak from fear. What are we supposed to do? When will these earthquakes finally stop?”

Videos show visible road damage

On Douyin, a popular video-sharing app in China akin to TikTok, some users criticized the country’s earthquake warning system. “The warning used to come about 10 seconds before the shaking. Now the alert goes off at the same time the earthquake starts. There’s no chance to escape,” said one user.

Another said, “The shaking was very strong after 10 o’clock, but I never received any warning. The earthquake monitoring system has completely failed.” Others claimed that “many buildings in downtown Yibin have developed cracks,” while another netizen wrote that reviewing home surveillance footage of the quake had left them “filled with lingering fear.”

The seismic activity continued into the following day. On Aug. 4, Gao County recorded another magnitude 3.4 earthquake at a depth of five kilometers. The tremors come just over a month after a magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck the same county on June 29, the strongest quake recorded this year.

The activity in Sichuan follows another wave of earthquakes in Xinghai County, Qinghai Province, where multiple earthquakes, including several above magnitude 5.0, have struck in recent weeks, triggering landslides and sending dust and debris cascading down mountain slopes.