Magnitude 5.4 earthquake hits east China; 21 injured, buildings collapse

A shallow 5.4-magnitude earthquake rocked eastern China in the early hours of Sunday, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), with at least 21 people injured and scores of structures collapsing, according to official media.

Social media videos showed shaking light fixtures, trembling ground, and people fleeing their homes, with one film showing individuals walking through bricks dispersed on the ground.

The quake struck at 2:33 a.m. (1833 GMT Saturday), 26 kilometres (16 miles) south of Dezhou in Shandong province, at a depth of 10 km, according to the USGS.

“The tremor was so strong… during the earthquake my head was shaking on the pillow, I thought I was having a nightmare,” one person posted on the social media platform Weibo from Shandong’s neighbouring Hebei province.

Based on prior quake data, the USGS’s PAGER system, which offers preliminary estimates on the impact of earthquakes, issued a red alert, suggesting substantial damage and several deaths were likely.

According to Shandong officials, at least “21 people were injured” and 126 houses or buildings “collapsed” as a result of the earthquake, which was followed by 52 aftershocks.

According to the official news agency Xinhua, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management triggered a level four emergency reaction and dispatched a team to Shandong province to head the rescue effort.

CCTV footage showed rescue workers in red uniforms going through first aid tents put up on a school athletics pitch surrounded by seemingly intact structures.

“Only specific old dirt buildings that were uninhabited have collapsed,” CCTV said, showing footage of piles of crumbled bricks in between undamaged buildings and pieces of exterior wall stripped from a still-standing house.

“Some yard perimeter walls have collapsed and been damaged,” CCTV said.

Water and communications infrastructure were functioning normally in the area but hundreds of train services were suspended as of Sunday morning, according to CCTV.

The quake was felt as far away as the cities of Beijing and Tianjin, as well as in Shanghai, about 800 kilometres from the epicentre.

“I can’t say anything except that it’s scary,” another Weibo user said.

Earthquakes are not uncommon in China but it is rare for them to hit the eastern part of the country where most of the population and big cities are located.

An official from the Shandong Seismological Bureau said the possibility of a larger earthquake is “very small”, according to local media.