China - Deadly SICHUAN (Xa'an) earthquake April 20 2013 - Part 1 (Archive)

CHINA - SICHUAN EARTHQUAKE APRIL 20 2013

Part 1

(this part includes all our information from the beginning of the earthquake until 05:13 UTC)

Click here to read THE LATEST INFORMATION

Update 05:13 UTC : Chinese seismologists are stating that the current earthquake is about 85 km from the 2008 cruel earthquake killing 68000 people. Today's earthquake has also the same Focal Mechanism than the 2008 one.

Update 05:06 UTC : Latest news reported by CCTV China reports that a Kindergarten school should have collapsed. The station staff is now trying to get more news from this.

Update 05:01 UTC : Another video showing the shaking at a greater distance from the epicenter. The location of this video is not know, but based on the time we know that the location of the camera is rather far away.

Update 04:56 UTC : The death toll has further increased to 57 (official)
- The Sichuan, China, Mw6.6 shallow thrust quake close to southern end of aftershock zone of devastating 2008 Mw7.9 quake, similar mechanism
- The Chinese Prime Minister is on his way to the airport to overfly the earthquake area. He want to be kept briefed of all proceedings.

Update 04:52 UTC : The current rescue and relief operation is a LEVEL 1 operation. The command will be at the supreme headquarters in Beijing. Aerial footage we have seen shows a lot of collapsed buildings in the epicenter villages. The images have been photographed out of assessment mission helicopters.

Update 04:30 UTC : CCTV China reports that several buildings have collapsed and that landslides are making relief efforts and traffic to the quake hit zone very difficult.
- Public life (shops, transport etc) has come to a standstill.

Update 04:21 UTC : so far 20 aftershocks from M3.6 to M5.1. The number of fatalities has increased from 41 to 46. We know that some Press Agencies are reporting higher numbers, but we refrain from speculating and we will only mention the official number.

Update 04:11 UTC : Chengdu airport has been re-opened again

Update 04:05 UTC : Ya'an is the original Panda area in China. The current Panda park is outside Chengdu. there is no real danger for the Panda's, as they do live in a nice open-air park (have been visiting this park last October).

Update 04:01 UTC : 41 people are now reported killed

Update 03:53 UTC : Chinese army is flying troops and rescuers to the epicenter area by helicopters

Update 03:45 UTC : Un-official Xa'an microbloggers are estimating that the death toll will rise a lot the coming hours.

Update 03:38 UTC : The Rescue authorities are now reporting 32 fatalities and at least 600 injured. These are temporary numbers and will further rise.

Update 03:29 UTC : 2000 Rescue and Relief troops from Chengdu have been dispatched to the epicenter area.

Update 03:22 UTC : A very grim picture comes from rescuers already in the earthquake epicenter zone. A lot of buildings have collapsed and the people are anxiously waiting for rescuers to help them. The final outcome will be dramatic and we expect the death toll to rise spectacularly the following hours.

Update 03:18 UTC : The number of fatalities has now officially risen to 28. The epicenter area is completely blocked by debris and landslides, common after such a major earthquake

Update 03:14 UTC : The Ya'an to Lushan County highway has been blocked

Update 03:09 UTC : The main tectonic plates colliding during this earthquake are the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate. The earthquake today follows a massive M7.8 earthquake earlier this week killing 41 in Pakistan and a M7.2 earthquake this morning in the Kuril Islands area.

Update 03:03 UTC : Chinese main newspaper Peoples Daily now reports 12 fatalities

Update 03:01 UTC : Authorities are now releasing the number of 5 killed and more than 1,000 injured

Update 02:54 UTC : Chinese earthquake SAR and relief troops are among the best trained in the world. Depending on the level of alert the command is provincially or nationally. This is definitely a National command.
Unless for many other earthquakes i remote places, the rescue and relief should be relatively quick in the epicenter area as the distance from provincial capital Chengdu is only 1 to 2 hours drive. Of course this is in normal conditions. After an earthquakes the roads may be blocked by damage, debris and/or landslides.

Chinese relief and rescue troops during another mission

Update 02:52 UTC : Officially there are only 2 fatalities so far. We will only bring other numbers when they are confirmed by many Chinese sources. Fatalities are not something to exaggerate !

Update 02:49 UTC : The picture below gives an impression of the buildings in Xa'an city, closest to the epicenter. Telecommunications (mainly mobile) are on on off reports the Chinese TV.

Panoramio image of Xa'an building types

Update 02:43 UTC : The weather in the earthquake epicenter area is bad (light rain) and people are expecting serious landslides because of the aftershocks.
- We do Thank our Chinese readers to send us so many I Have Felt It reports. Most of them are however from 100+ km from the epicenter which we see as relatively harmless.

Update 02:38 UTC : Map 1 below shows the strongest aftershocks after the M7.0 mainshock. The most recent aftershock measured M4.8. The depth of most aftershocks is varying in between 10 and 20 km.

Update 02:31 UTC : 1200 SAR (Search and Rescue) troops have been dispatched to the epicenter area to search for earthquake victims and to provide relief material.

Update 02:20 UTC : Ya'an, Sichuan earthquake occurred in the same seismic area than the 2008 earthquake. Chinese media people commenting from the Xa'an area are mentioning hundreds of injured an a number of deaths. International reports of +100 fatalities are too soon at this time.

Update 02:17 UTC : For people only coming in now , this the live report of the terrible earthquake who occurred in Sichuan, China. We are posting regular updates when they become available. Keep this page open as it will refresh every 6 minutes. We will add pictures and videos when we find the quality and content good enough to show you.

Update 02:06 UTC : Chinese authorities and seismologists are indicating Ya'an as the city closest to the epicenter.
Some more about Ya'an : Previously known as Yazhou-fu, the city is first mentioned during the Zhou Dynasty (1122-255 BCE). It served as a county seat during the Qin and Han Dynasties, but was subsequently taken by nomadic tribes. After being reintegrated into the Chinese Empire in the late 5th century, it was made the seat of the Ya Prefecture in 604. The modern Ya'an county was established in 1912. It became the provincial capital of Xikang province in 1951, but has been a municipality under the administration of Sichuan province since 1955, whenXikang province was merged and became a part of Sichuan province. (source Wikipedia). Ya'an prefecture gas a population of 1,560,000 people !

Update 02:00 UTC : CCTV reports 2 fatalities at this moment. The epicenter is following Chinese media in Xa'an city. We reckon that the final death toll will be more severe.

Update 01:45 UTC : We have no specific information from the epicenter yet. We reiterate that only a small perimeter of max. 50 km radius is at risk for heavy damage.
- A new M5.1 aftershock is now reported. 5+ aftershocks are damaging on its own.

Update 01:45 UTC : Millions of people are currently in the streets out of fear for aftershocks. A hallucinate image this morning when almost naked people are on the streets after having felt the shaking in their beds.

image courtesy and copyright ifeng.com

Update 01:42 UTC : China maintains the 7.0 Magnitude but communications are very difficult. This earthquake has been felt by more than hundred million people (Chonqqing alone has 30 million inhabitants).

Update 01:36 UTC : First picture of the damage look grim. New high rise buildings in the bigger cities in China are being build earthquake resistant and should not have sustained serious damage.

Image copyright and courtesy ifeng.com

Update 01:32 UTC : The shaking lasted for about 30 seconds as mentioned by our readers. This is long and the longer the shaking lasts, the more damage can be expected.

Update 01:29 UTC : Many aftershocks are currently striking the greater epicenter area. Some of them are damaging from its own.

Update 01:26 UTC : Chengdu airport was closed because of some non specific damage from the airport facilities.

Update 01:21 UTC : Today's earthquake is relatively close to the area who was totally devastated whan a M7.8 earthquake struck on 2008. This earthquake killed an estimated 68,000 people.

Update 01:17 UTC : A little bit o good news : USGS has decreased his initial Magnitude from M6.9 to M6.6. The depth has been updated to 12 km, still extremely dangerous.

Update 01:17 UTC : There are 7 million people living within a radius of 100 km from the epicenter. ER Calls a radius of 25 to 35 km at HIGH risk for damage, injuries and fatalities.

Update 01:13 UTC : USGS expects 83,000 people to have experienced a SEVERE MMI VIII shaking, this is damaging shaking. 218,000 will have experienced a MMI VII very strong shaking. The numbers are really BAD!

Update 01:09 UTC : Chinese cities in the greater epicenter area and their probable MMI shaking. VI and V are NOT extremely dangerous but can generate cracks, fallen tiles etc.

Update 01:03 UTC : As could be expected, a lot of mobile telecommunications have been interrupted in the greater epicenter area.

Update 00:59 UTC : A lot of tourists will have felt this earthquake as cities like Xi'an, Chengdu, Chonqing etc are heavily visited. Chinese authorities are mentioning Lushan County as the epicenter area.

Update 00:55 UTC : USGS has decreased his expectation of maximum shaking from IX to VIII, still a severe shaking. Adobe houses and non-earthquake resistant houses are at great risk during this earthquake.

Update 00:49 UTC : WAPMERR, the theoretical damage engine has calculated that based on M6.9 and 16 km depth there will be 400 to 3500 fatalities and thousands of injured. Let's hope that they are wrong !

Update 00:47 UTC : The Chinese data are even more dangerous. CEIC reports a Magnitude of 7.0 at a depth of only 14 km. ER fears for a lot of fatalities.

Update 00:41 UTC : We do stress that this is a MAJOR DANGEROUS earthquake. The combination Magnitude / depth can be very damaging.

Update 00:40 UTC : Based on the USGS data, Muping Town is at high risk for severe damage. Population : 11000 people

Update 00:37 UTC : We will have to wait a little to get the precise population data in the direct vicinity of the earthquake.

Update 00:36 UTC : Unfortunately all the local Chinese seismology servers are down because of too many requests

Update 00:26 UTC : USGS is expecting a MASSIVE MMI IX shaking near the epicenter. Even if the shaking should be down to VII or VIII, this earthquake will still be very damaging.

Update 00:26 UTC : USGS is reporting a Magnitude of 6.9 at a depth of only 16 km. EMSC is initially reporting a depth of 60 km. If the final depth is less than 20 km, this earthquake will normally be very damaging.

Update 00:22 UTC : We are currently trying to get the data of the Chinese Seismological services, but so far we could not get to it, probably server are too busy.

Update 00:18 UTC : The earthquake was VERY powerful and felt in a very wide area. We did get already reports as far as Chonqing and Kunming. We stress that this is a VERY DANGEROUS earthquake

Extremely dangerous earthquake in Sichuan, China
The earthquake was also relatively close to Chengdu (111 km)

111 km SW of Chengdu, China / pop: 3,950,437 / local time: 08:02:53.0 2013-04-20
97 km NW of Leshan, China / pop: 154,477 / local time: 08:02:53.0 2013-04-20

Links to important maps
USGS Did You Feel It Map
Shaking map
Human impact map
Scientific parameters

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Other earlier earthquakes in the greater epicenter area (since 2012)

Strongest earthquakes Magnitude 3.5 or more within a 150 km radius from this earthquake (max. 60)