Important update 15:03 UTC : The current status is 1 person killed and 22 injured. A lot of relief material has been sent to the hardest hit areas. We expect this number to increase in the following hours.

Update 12:10 UTC : Below the shaking map published by the Chinese Seismological agency. To be noticed a far great strong shaking area than the USGS (M5.8) map below.

Update 11:55 UTC : Apparently there are NO big buildings collapsed, neither in Xinduqiao nor in Tagong, which is very good news. No images yet from the epicenter area. We expect also landslides to have occurred as this is a mountainous area.
Below the seismic map of the greater epicenter area. Combined with the beach-ball below and the faults on this seismic map, we can now say that the ground movement went from South-East to North-West

Update 11:21 UTC : Beijing News reported that in Xinduqiao town residents said that many houses collapsed, mostly older Tibetan houses, more recently build houses have only been damaged. Currently, NO no rescue personnel arrived as yet, some areas have still electricity, communications are on and off.

Update 11:18 UTC : The earthquake was even felt as far as Chongqing

Update 11:14 UTC : Some walls of Kangding Airport are showing cracks. 3 trains lines are delayed because the railway personnel has first to inspect the rails.

Update 11:10 UTC : Unconfirmed reports are mentioning that one 73 year old man from Kangding was killed due to the earthquake. The exact reason has not been reported.

Update 10:59 UTC : People living in the wider earthquake area (including Kangding) are on the streets and are afraid to go inside again.

Update 10:56 UTC : Medical teams have been sent to the epicenter area. China has probably the best managed earthquake response teams in the world. Part of the response is by the Chinese Army. A lot of specialized material can be put into work within 24 hours (heavy material, telecommunications, field hospitals, etc etc)

Update 10:23 UTC : The first reports from the biggest nearby city Kangding are hopeful. No widespread collapses houses and only 1 injured person because of broken glass. Specialized teams are now rushing to the villages closest to the epicenter. We keep you informed when new reports are coming in. The earthquake was strongly felt in Kangding (39 km from the epicenter)

Update 10:13 UTC : The earthquake was felt strongly in Chengdu (based on Chinese readers reports). Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province. The Chengdu districy has a population of 16 million. Chengdu itself is however not an important risk for this earthquake.

Update 09:59 UTC : ER calls the below village as most in danger as it is located closest to the epicenter (approx. 6 km). The epicenter (breaking itself is located on the edges of the high mountain chain (which is normally good news).

Update 09:50 UTC : Further bad news for this earthquake. The beach-ball shows a strike-slip earthquake type, the most dangerous one with a mainly horizontal movement. Older houses and buildings can be severely damaged by this type of earthquake.

Update 09:43 UTC : Below the map as reported by the Chinese Seismological Agency. The upper dot is today’s epicenter, the lower dots other +M5 earthquakes this year. important to say about this map is that the earthquake is NOT an aftershock but a mainshock.

Update 09:37 UTC : The Chinese authorities are reporting a Magnitude of 6.3 at a depth of 18 km. These data are confirming our earlier expectations. Damage and injuries almost certain, hopefully no fatalities.

Update 09:25 UTC : Prof. Max Wyss who specializes in theoretical calculations of injured and fatalities based on many parameters expect for this earthquake 0 to 200 fatalities and 50 to 500 injured. Let’s hope that he is wrong this time or that only his minimum values will be reached.

39km (24mi) NW of Kangding, China
168km (104mi) W of Linqiong, China
203km (126mi) SSW of Wuwei, China
216km (134mi) WNW of Leshan, China
1111km (690mi) NNW of Ha Noi, Vietnam