On February 5th, 7:42 a.m., a magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck the Kuqa City in the Aksu region of Xinjiang. The quake had a depth of 10 kilometers with the epicenter located at 41.23 degrees north latitude and 83.74 degrees east longitude. Currently, there are no reports of casualties.
Local residents took to the internet to share their experiences during the earthquake. One resident mentioned that the earthquake lasted nearly half a minute with intense tremors, saying, “This earthquake jolted me awake, scared the children to death.” Another said, “The first tremor jolted me awake instantly, the house was shaking so much, I thought it was going to collapse, I hid under the blankets, thinking, it’s over, the house is going to fall.”
Another netizen reported, “I felt tremors at around 4 a.m., woke up and hid in the bathroom, but it stopped quickly.”
Residents from surrounding areas also shared their experiences, with statements such as, “I was awakened by the tremors in Yili.” “The tremors in Gongliu, Yili, were quite noticeable.” “Coordinates in Korla woke me up from my dream.” “I was shaken awake in Tacheng, scared me to death.” “I’m in Luntai, the tremors were strong.” “The tremors in Shayar County were intense and scared me awake!”
According to the mainland media report from Longhua Net, the earthquake struck 74 kilometers from Luntai County, 80 kilometers from Shayar County, 82 kilometers from Kuqa City, 100 kilometers from Xinhe County, 170 kilometers from Baicheng County, 176 kilometers from Tiemen Pass City, 292 kilometers from Aksu region, and 428 kilometers from Urumqi city.
Based on the China Earthquake Networks Center’s rapid reporting catalog, within 200 kilometers radius of the epicenter, there have been a total of 478 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or above in the past five years. The largest earthquake occurred on January 30, 2023, with a magnitude of 6.1 in Shayar County, Aksu region, which was 183 kilometers away from the epicenter of this quake.