00:05It was 1221 a.m. Most of Liu Zhu was asleep when the ground started shaking, and by the time
00:12it
00:12stopped, 13 buildings had collapsed. Two people were dead, and over 7,000 residents were being
00:19pulled from their homes in the dark. A 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck Liu Zhu in China's
00:26Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the early hours of Monday morning. The epicenter hit
00:32Leonan District, near a small settlement called Taeyong Village, at a shallow depth of just
00:378 to 10 kilometers. That shallow depth matters. The closer an earthquake is to the surface,
00:44the more violent the shaking felt above ground, even if the magnitude itself isn't record-breaking.
00:50A 5.2 deep underground is one thing. A 5.2 at 8 kilometers, that's a completely different
00:57experience for anyone standing on top of it. Tremors were felt strongly across the wider region,
01:03in Nanning, Guilin, Hechi, and Wuzhou, but the worst of the damage concentrated right at the epicenter,
01:10in those rural villages where older structures simply weren't built to absorb that kind of force.
01:16Two people lost their lives, a 63-year-old man and his 53-year-old wife. A couple killed when
01:23their
01:24home came down around them in the middle of the night. No warning, no time. A 91-year-old man
01:30was
01:31initially reported missing, buried somewhere in the debris. Rescue teams worked through the night
01:36under floodlights, with search dogs moving through the rubble. They found him. He was pulled out alive,
01:42in stable condition. Four others were hospitalized with injuries, none life-threatening. More than 7,000
01:49residents were evacuated from impacted areas as authorities moved quickly to get people away from
01:55structures at risk of further collapse. China activated a Level 3 emergency response almost
02:01immediately. Over 300 emergency personnel, firefighters, rescue teams, engineers deployed to the area,
02:09with dozens of vehicles and heavy machinery. Operations ran through the night without stopping.
02:15Railway authorities inspected all nearby rail lines, flagging potential transport disruptions
02:20as a precaution. By midday Monday, the active search and rescue phase was largely wrapped up.
02:26The 91-year-old survivor was the last major find. Utilities, power, water, gas, and communications
02:33remained operational throughout, which helped keep the situation from deteriorating further.
02:3913 buildings down, two lives lost, a couple who went to sleep and never woke up. China's emergency
02:46teams responded fast. The 91-year-old man is alive because of it. But for the family of the couple
02:53in Taeyong Village tonight, this earthquake took everything. Our thoughts are with everyone in Liu Zhu.
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