Magnitude 7 earthquake hits China-Kyrgyzstan border

“Significant damage is likely,” estimates the report from the American Geological Survey (USGS), even though the earthquake occurred during the night.

A magnitude 7 earthquake struck on the night of Monday January 22 to Tuesday January 23 on the border between China and Kyrgyzstan, according to the American Geological Survey (USGS), which estimated that it could have caused victims and caused significant damage. The earthquake was recorded shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday, 7 p.m. Paris time, at a depth of 27 kilometers in China’s Xinjiang region, about 140 kilometers west of the city of Aksu.

The tremors were felt in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, according to the authorities of these Central Asian countries. “No casualties or damage have been reported so far” in the affected areas, Kyrgyzstan’s Minister of Emergency Situations said in a video, calling on residents to “don’t panic.” Shakes “particularly strong” were felt in some districts of the Issyk-Kul region, in the east of the country, according to him.

Walls that tremble

“Significant damage is likely,” estimates, however, the report of the American institute. Shortly afterward, three aftershocks were recorded in the region, with magnitudes of 5.5, 5.1 and 5.0, the USGS added, estimating that casualties were possible.

In Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, residents ran out of their homes to find refuge in the street, according to an AFP journalist. The force of the earthquake caused walls to shake, dishes and books to fall while furniture moved, she noted.

Images posted on social media and local media showed residents of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, on the streets following the tremors. Local television channels in the Indian capital New Delhi, some 1,400 kilometers away, reported tremors. This earthquake comes the day after a landslide which buried dozens of people and left at least eight dead in southwest China.