5.2 magnitude quake in Guangxi kills two, forces 7,000 to evacuate
A shallow quake killed two in Guangxi and forced more than 7,000 people out of Liuzhou homes before dawn. Thirteen buildings collapsed as crews searched for one missing resident.
A moderate quake on paper proved deadly in Guangxi because it struck before dawn, was shallow, and hit populated neighborhoods with enough force to bring down buildings. Two people were killed, one resident was missing and more than 7,000 people were evacuated in Liuzhou after the 5.2-magnitude tremor, while 13 buildings collapsed in the early hours and four others were hospitalized.
The quake hit Liunan District of Liuzhou at 0:21 a.m. Beijing time, with the China Earthquake Networks Center putting the epicenter at 24.38 degrees north latitude and 109.26 degrees east longitude at a depth of 8 kilometers. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the event as magnitude 5.0, about 24 kilometers northwest of Liuzhou, at a depth of 10 kilometers. That shallow profile helps explain why a mid-range quake caused severe surface damage in a dense industrial city.
Authorities identified the dead as a married couple, aged 63 and 53. Search-and-rescue teams were still working to find the missing resident, and rescuers also pulled a 91-year-old man from the quake zone. Although the injuries reported so far were not life-threatening, the collapse of multiple structures showed how vulnerable some local buildings remain when shaking is concentrated near the surface.
Guangxi’s regional earthquake relief headquarters launched a Level-III emergency response at 2 a.m., and the China Earthquake Administration also activated a Level-III response. A 38-member team from the Guangxi seismological bureau was dispatched to the epicenter for emergency mobile observation and disaster investigation. Tremors were felt beyond Liuzhou in Guigang, Wuzhou, Hechi, Nanning and Laibin, underscoring how widely the quake spread through the region.
Officials said railway authorities began inspections to check whether the shock had affected rail infrastructure, a crucial step in a city where transport links carry workers, emergency crews and supplies across a fast-growing urban area. State media also said communications, power lines, water and gas supplies, and traffic were operating normally, which helped limit the immediate humanitarian toll even as the physical damage remained serious. The evacuation of thousands in Liuzhou now stands as the clearest measure of the city’s readiness test: a relatively small quake that still exposed the speed, limits and pressure points of local disaster response.
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