On July 13th, the county of Gaoxian in Sichuan, China experienced two shallow earthquakes measuring 3.9 and 3.8 on the Richter scale in the early morning, with reports indicating that the tremors were strongly felt by witnesses. It is noteworthy that since the early morning of July 8th, Gaoxian County has witnessed multiple earthquakes ranging from magnitudes 3 to 5.
The China Earthquake Networks Center officially confirmed that at 5:02 AM on July 13th, a 3.9 magnitude earthquake struck Gaoxian County in Yibin City, Sichuan Province (latitude 28.53 degrees north, longitude 104.68 degrees east) with a depth of 6 kilometers. Over two hours later, at 7:27 AM, another earthquake of 3.8 magnitude occurred in Gaoxian County (latitude 28.52 degrees north, longitude 104.67 degrees east) with a depth of 5 kilometers.
According to reports from “Da Xiang News,” Mr. Zeng, a local resident, mentioned that on the morning of July 13th, he felt two strong tremors that lasted for a few seconds each, awakening him directly without the need for an alarm clock. He expressed concern over the continuous aftershocks since July 8th, which have already rendered some houses unsafe and marked them with caution tape.
The data from the China Earthquake Networks Center shows that Gaoxian County has experienced a series of earthquakes since the early morning of July 8th.
On July 9th at 7:44 AM, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck Gaoxian County with a depth of 6 kilometers. Around the same time, a seismic event of around 5.1 magnitude occurred near Gaoxian County. Later on the 9th, at 12:25 PM, Gaoxian County was hit by a 3.2 magnitude earthquake.
In the evening of July 9th, the earthquake relief headquarters in Yibin City reported that as of 4:00 PM on July 9th, the earthquake on “7·8” had resulted in 4 minor injuries, damaged 4,309 households, and displaced and resettled a total of 8,064 people across 2,694 households.
A day prior, on July 8th from 4:01 AM to 10:08 AM, Gaoxian County experienced nine earthquakes above magnitude 3.0, including two at 5.0 magnitude each. The first 5.0 magnitude quake struck at 6:12 AM in Gaoxian County (latitude 28.52 degrees north, longitude 104.68 degrees east) with a depth of 8 kilometers, followed by another at 10:08 AM in Gaoxian County (latitude 28.54 degrees north, longitude 104.67 degrees east) with a depth of 6 kilometers. The China Earthquake Administration had initiated a Level 3 emergency response at the time.
Earlier, on the early morning of June 29th, a 5.5 magnitude earthquake had occurred near Shahe Town in Gaoxian County, resulting in at least 13 injuries and the displacement of 196 individuals.