Major earthquake rocks China and Kyrgyzstan, tremors felt across Asia

In a startling event that gripped the regions of China and Kyrgyzstan, a major 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the border area, sending shockwaves through the Tien Shan mountain range and beyond. Reported by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) on Monday evening, this seismic activity has raised alarms over potentially widespread damage, marking a significant natural disaster that could have far-reaching effects.

Residents of Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, were seen fleeing their homes, seeking safety in the streets as the tremors disrupted the night’s peace. While Kazakhstan has yet to report casualties or significant destruction, the impact of the quake was felt strongly, with social media users in Almaty sharing firsthand accounts through videos and photos. The tremors reached as far as India’s capital, New Delhi, and were felt in Pakistan, covering an astonishing distance of approximately 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) from the epicenter.

Registered shortly after 2:00 am (1800 GMT Monday) at a shallow depth of 13 kilometres in China’s Xinjiang region, west of the city of Aksu, the earthquake was followed by three more quakes, magnitudes 5.5, 5.1, and 5.0, creating a series of seismic events that rattled the region. This series of earthquakes comes in the wake of a landslide that tragically buried dozens and claimed at least eight lives in the southwest of China, highlighting a period of significant geological activity.

The USGS warned of the possibility of casualties and significant damage, describing the disaster as “potentially widespread.” The depth of the quake was later adjusted to 27.4 kilometres, with its epicenter located in the Kyrgyzstan-Xinjiang border region. The agency provided a detailed analysis of the earthquake’s mechanism, attributing it to oblique reverse and strike-slip faulting at shallow depth, a phenomenon largely influenced by the tectonic activities within the Tien Shan mountain range.

India’s National Center for Seismology (NCS) reported a slightly higher magnitude of 7.2 for the earthquake, occurring at a depth of 80 kilometres in China’s Southern Xinjiang region, underscoring the severity of the seismic event.

This earthquake underscores the volatile nature of the Earth’s tectonic movements, particularly in a region as geologically complex as the Tien Shan mountain range. The series of quakes following the initial tremor indicates a significant release of stress along fault lines, a reminder of the dynamic and interconnected nature of geological processes. The widespread impact of the tremor, felt across countries, highlights the need for cross-border cooperation in disaster preparedness and response, emphasizing the importance of robust seismic monitoring and infrastructure resilience in earthquake-prone regions.