Visiting the epicenter of the Dezhou Plain earthquake in Shandong Province, villagers have resumed normal living and housing | Villagers | Dezhou Plain, Shandong Province

On August 6th, Shandong Pingyuan, China News Agency reported that "the earthquake was quite strong, but fortunately the houses were relatively sturdy and the damage was not very significant." A wholesale supermarket named Guo, located in the epicenter area of Pingyuan County, Dezhou City, told China News Agency reporters on the 6th that the earthquake in Pingyuan County mainly caused some goods on the shelves on the east and west sides of the supermarket to fall off, shattering some glass products such as alcohol, and causing economic losses of around a few hundred yuan. Other goods had little impact.

The Blue Sky Rescue Team is gathering at the on-site command center for standby. Photo by Liang Ben

According to the official measurement of the China Earthquake Networks Center, at 2:33 on August 6, a 5.5 magnitude earthquake occurred in Pingyuan County, Dezhou City, Shandong Province, with a focal depth of 10 kilometers and an epicenter near Wangdagua Village, Wangdagua Town, Pingyuan County.

At around 12:00 that day, the reporter walked into Wangdagua Town Central Primary School and saw that some tiles had fallen off the exterior wall of the first floor of the school's teaching building, scattered in the corners of the wall. There are rows of fire trucks neatly parked on campus, with firefighters and blue sky rescue team members on standby for repairs. Several tents with the words "emergency rescue" have been set up in the center of the playground, and the Pingyuan County Earthquake Rescue Command Center has been established here. The scene is orderly, and rescue work is proceeding in an orderly manner.

Most of the houses in Pandengzhuang Village, Wangdagua Town, located near the epicenter, are intact and the streets are clean. Photo by Liang Ben

"There were no casualties or economic losses in the village, at most one household's TV was damaged by falling bricks." Cao Hongshun, a villager from Pandengzhuang Village in Wangdagua Town, recalled that after the earthquake felt around 2 a.m., the village's "loudspeaker" summoned all villagers to the village committee courtyard to gather. In order to avoid further harm caused by aftershocks, the villagers stayed until 7 or 8 a.m. before returning to rest. "At this moment, there is no one on the street, probably everyone is sleeping at home."

The aerial photo was taken in Pandengzhuang Village, Wangdagua Town, near the epicenter. Photo by Liang Ben

In the afternoon of that day, the reporter saw in Pandengzhuang Village that most of the houses were in good condition, with some houses having peeling walls and collapsed courtyard walls being mostly cleaned up. Bricks and tiles were neatly stacked aside, and the village roads were clean and tidy. The villagers have returned to their normal working and living conditions.

The villagers are cleaning up their collapsed walls. Photo by Liang Ben

Cao Hongshun showed reporters photos taken by his phone in the early morning, including a picture of a fire truck driving into the village, which was taken at 4:40 am. "The fire brigade and blue sky rescue team rushed to the village around 4am, and after about an hour of simple investigation, it was confirmed that there were no casualties before leaving. The village cadres quickly organized the villagers to clean up the collapsed houses, clean up the walls on the roads, etc., to avoid further harm and hinder escape," Cao Hongshun said.

Entering an alley, the reporter saw a collapsed house without further treatment. Villager Li Xijie explained to the reporter that there were four dilapidated houses in the village that collapsed, all of which were unoccupied houses. "The fire rescue team has come and believes that there is still a certain risk of collapse because the house is temporarily uninhabited, so no further treatment has been carried out."

Villagers are inspecting a collapsed and uninhabited dangerous house to prevent secondary injuries. Photo by Liang Ben

After the earthquake, the Chinese Emergency Management Department, the China Seismological Bureau, the China Earthquake Networks Center Center, the Emergency Management Department of Shandong Province, and the Shandong Fire Rescue Corps made video connections to dispatch personnel to learn about the earthquake area and deploy earthquake relief work. 15 vehicles and 107 people from the Dezhou Fire Rescue Detachment in Shandong Province immediately went to the epicenter for rescue. Five fire rescue teams, including Jinan, Tai'an, Liaocheng, Dezhou, and Binzhou, have assembled 24 vehicles, 236 fire rescue personnel, and specialized search and rescue dog mobile teams.

A collapsed courtyard wall has been cleared by villagers, with bricks and tiles neatly stacked aside. Photo by Liang Ben

The reporter learned from the Emergency Management Department of Shandong Province that as of 8:00 am on August 6th, a total of 59 aftershocks were recorded, including 1 aftershock with a magnitude of 3.0 or above. After preliminary investigation and verification, as of 7:00 am on August 6th, a total of 126 houses collapsed and 21 people were injured in the earthquake stricken area. Road traffic, communication, and power supply were normal, and there were no leaks in oil and gas pipelines.

As of the time of press release, no new reports of casualties have been received, and the disaster situation is being further verified.

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