By Our Special Correspondent
At least 21 people were killed in China on Monday when a powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Lauding County in the country's southwestern Sichuan province, whose population is already reeling from rising COVID-19 cases and an unprecedented drought.
The epicenter of the earthquake, which struck at 12:25 pm local time, was located at 29.59 degrees north latitude and 102.08 degrees east longitude at a depth of 16 km, the China Seismic Networks Center said, citing the state-run Xinhua news agency.
The state-run China Daily reported that 21 people have died in the earthquake so far. Tremors were felt in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, which is 226 km away from the epicenter. Photos and videos posted on Chinese social media show buildings shaking in Chengdu. The details of the damage are yet to be known.
Sichuan Province is next to Tibet. The Tibetan Plateau sits right where the tectonic Eurasian and Indian plates meet and is prone to massive earthquakes as they often collide with great force. More than 69,000 people died when magnitude 8.2 earthquakes struck the province in 2008, and a magnitude 7 earthquakes in 2013 killed 200.
Chengdu is under snap lockdown due to rising cases. Residents are told to stay at home, with one person per household allowed each day to buy necessities. Daily nucleic acid tests are also mandatory until Wednesday, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Chengdu alone, a southwestern transportation hub of 21 million people, has reported more than 1,000 cases since mid-August. Sichuan reported 105 new symptomatic cases and another 80 asymptomatic infections on Monday.
The province is also reeling from an unprecedented drought and a heat wave continues across large parts of China, leaving farmland parched after a month of no rain and farmers with little access to irrigation equipment.
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