A 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck south China’s Guangxi region early Monday morning, leaving two people dead and one person missing.
The earthquake hit the city of Liuzhou at 12:21 AM (17:21 GMT+1), causing at least 13 buildings to collapse and triggering an immediate emergency response.
State broadcaster, CCTV, identified the deceased as a married couple, a 63-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman, whose lives were claimed in the initial destruction.
In the immediate aftermath of the tremors, authorities launched a massive safety operation, successfully evacuating over 7,000 residents from the heavily impacted area.
Dramatic videos published by state media showed terrified residents fleeing high-rise buildings into the streets, alongside footage of scattered piles of rubble where homes once stood.
Search and rescue operations remain underway as emergency crews desperately hunt for the single missing individual.
Rescue workers wearing helmets were filmed trudging through the debris, utilizing trained search dogs to sniff out signs of life while heavy earthmovers were deployed to clear the massive wreckage blocking the streets.
Earthquakes are a relatively common occurrence in China due to its complex tectonic geography. This latest disaster comes just over a year after a devastating earthquake struck the remote Tibet region last January, which killed at least 126 people and damaged thousands of structures.
