Dangerous earthquake in Sichuan, China – some damage reported.

Last update: November 1, 2011 at 7:42 am by By

Earthquake overview :  A 5.5 (China 5.4) magnitude earthquake occurred in the Chinese province of Sichuan.  The preliminary epicenter location looks to be very close to Walixiang and Qinghuan.
“I have Felt it” Reports –> see below + Let us know “how you have felt this earthquake”
To read the full story as it happened, we advise our readers to start at the lower part of the page (earthquake data).

Keep this page open or return regularly as we will be back with more details when they become available

Seismic Hazard map in Sichuan earthquake November 1 2011 - map courtesy USGS

Update 7:21 UTC : Good synergy is occurring between the seismological bureau and the meteorological bureau, with warnings given to the provincial staff sent to the earthquake region. Qingchuan County of Guangyuan City Earthquake Disaster Reduction Sector Working Group has been sent to the scene.
At 11:20 on November 1st, the Sichuan Seismological Bureau field team arrived at Qingchuan earthquake, and the early arrival of Guangyuan, anti-earthquake Qingchuan County Council staff formed a joint working group to carry out earthquake emergency response and disaster investigations.
According to the report of the Joint Working Group on site:
青川县孔溪乡 (Qingchuan County Township)、木鱼镇 (Muyu Town)、板桥乡 (Board Xiang Town), have sustained some damage. Stables for horses have collapsed without casualties and individual houses have lost tiles, cracks in tiles have also occurred. The adobe houses are mainly old, and out of simply unreinforced earth, thus the team will carry out further earthquake disaster investigations.

Update :  Chinese media are still giving a few data only, no reports on the situation yet. Neither the Sichuan seismological agency. Assessments will begin soon. We expect news from the epicenter area within 3 to 5 hours.

Update 01/11 – 00:08 UTC : No report yet from the very well organized Sichuan seismological agency. We expect the first reports on the situation in the early UTC hours.

Update : The seismic hazard map at right shows that the epicenter of the earthquake is located in an area with limited ground acceleration.

Update : We fear eventual damage and/or injuries in a radius of 20 km around the epicenter

Update : In 1976 a 6.4 magnitude earthquake at a distance of 104 km from the current epicenter killed 41 people

Update : Earthquake-Report.com calls this earthquake moderately dangerous because of the time of occurrence and the very vulnerable houses in the area.

Update : A V MMI is expected by USGS for 213,000 people

Update : A weak shaking has been felt in Jiangyou, but this is at least 150 km away from the epicenter

“I Have Felt It” reports as received by Earthquake-Report.com
Juizhaigou : Light shaking indicated
Sichuan: While in bed on the third floor during the morning hour, felt three light shakes.

Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 5.5 USGS (5.4 China)
UTC Time :  Monday, October 31, 2011 at 21:58:16 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Tuesday, November 01, 2011 at 05:58:16 AM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 16.1 km USGS (20 km China)
Geo-location(s) :
Very close to Walixiang and Qinghuan
48 km (29 miles) WNW of Guangyuan, Sichuan, China
104 km (64 miles) NNE of Jiangyou, Sichuan, China

Links to important maps
USGS Did You Feel It Map
Google satellite map showing the epicenter and the surrounding area
Historic earthquakes map
Seismic hazard map
Shaking map
Focal mechanism report
Human impact map

QuakeSOS+ and QuakeSOS free are iPhone applications developed by Armand Vervaeck, the founder of Earthquake Report. The Application simplifies immediate group communication to friends and family members (with your exact GPS location) and is feeding the users with Earthquake Report news. The 0.99 US$ QuakeSOS+ version will support the activities of SOS Earthquakes.

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I did feel it – Ik heb het gevoeld – Το έκανα αισθάνεται –Yo lo he sentido – 我的确感到了 – 私はそれを感じていました- Ich habe es gefühlt – Bunu hissediyorum yaptı – لم أشعر أنه

Country and location
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Tell us where in which location you felt the earthquake
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Your Email address might help us if we request for additional details about your experience. This field is NOT mandatory. It is up to you to give it or not.
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People :
Felt by persons at rest, on upper floors or favorably placed.
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People :
Felt indoors; hanging objects may swing, vibration similar to passing of light trucks, duration may be estimated, may not be recognized as an earthquake.
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People :
Generally noticed indoors but not outside. Light sleepers may be awakened. Vibration may be likened to the passing of heavy traffic, or to the jolt of a heavy object falling or striking the building.
Fittings :
Doors and windows rattle. Glassware and crockery rattle. Liquids in open vessels may be slightly disturbed. Standing motorcars may rock.
Structures :
Walls and frames of buildings, and partitions and suspended ceilings in commercial buildings, may be heard to creak.
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People :
Generally felt outside, and by almost everyone indoors. Most sleepers awakened. A few people alarmed.
Fittings :
Small unstable objects are displaced or upset. Some glassware and crockery may be broken. Hanging pictures knock against the wall. Open doors may swing. Cupboard doors secured by magnetic catches may open. Pendulum clocks stop, start, or change rate.
Structures :
Some large display windows cracked. A few earthenware toilet fixtures cracked.
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People Felt by all. People and animals alarmed. Many run outside. Difficulty experienced in walking steadily.
Fittings :
Objects fall from shelves. Pictures fall from walls. Some furniture moved on smooth floors, some unsecured free-standing fireplaces moved. Glassware and crockery broken. Very unstable furniture overturned. Small church and school bells ring. Appliances move on bench or table tops. Filing cabinets or "easy glide" drawers may open (or shut).
Structures :
Slight damage to buildings with low standard. Some stucco or cement plaster falls. Large display windows broken. Damage to a few weak domestic chimneys, some may fall.
Environment :
Trees and bushes shake, or are heard to rustle. Loose material may be dislodged from sloping ground, e.g. existing slides, talus slopes, shingle slides.
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People
General alarm. Difficulty experienced in standing. Noticed by motorcar drivers who may stop.
Fittings :
Large bells ring. Furniture moves on smooth floors, may move on carpeted floors. Substantial damage to fragile contents of buildings.
Structures :
Unreinforced stone and brick walls cracked. Low standard buildings cracked with some minor masonry falls. A few instances of damage to buildings of ordinary workmanship. Unbraced parapets, unbraced brick gables, and architectural ornaments fall. Roofing tiles, especially ridge tiles may be dislodged. Many unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, often falling from roof-line. Water tanks Type I burst. A few instances of damage to brick veneers and plaster or cement-based linings. Unrestrained water cylinders (hot-water cylinders) may move and leak. Some common windows cracked. Suspended ceilings damaged.
Environment :
Water made turbid by stirred up mud. Small slides such as falls of sand and gravel banks, and small rock-falls from steep slopes and cuttings. Instances of settlement of unconsolidated or wet, or weak soils. Some fine cracks appear in sloping ground. A few instances of liquefaction (i.e. small water and sand ejections).
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People Alarm may approach panic. Steering of motorcars greatly affected. Structures : Low standard buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. ordinary workmanship buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged in some cases. A few instances of damage to buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes. Monuments and pre-1976 elevated tanks and factory stacks twisted or brought down. Some pre-1965 infill masonry panels damaged. A few post-1980 brick veneers damaged. Decayed timber piles of houses damaged. Houses not secured to foundations may move. Most unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, some below roof-line, many brought down. Environment : Cracks appear on steep slopes and in wet ground. Small to moderate slides in roadside cuttings and unsupported excavations. Small water and sand ejections and localized lateral spreading adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
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Structures Many low standard buildings destroyed. Ordinary workmanship buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes damaged in some cases, some with flexible frames seriously damaged. Damage or permanent distortion to some buildings and bridges, designed and built to normal use standards. Houses not secured to foundations shifted off. Brick veneers fall and expose frames. Environment : Cracking of ground conspicuous. Landsliding general on steep slopes. Liquefaction effects intensified and more widespread, with large lateral spreading and flow sliding adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
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