Chinese People Take Rescues Into Their Own Hands After 2 Massive Earthquakes, 2,750 Tremors

Medical workers treat a woman after an strong earthquake in Yangbi Yi Autonomous County in southwestern China's Yunnan Province on May 22, 2021.Hu Chao/Xinhua via AP

China endured a pair of intense earthquakes on May 21 and May 22, with at least 2,754 foreshocks and aftershocks affecting areas across the western regions of the country. Many residents in quake-hit areas of Yunnan and Qinghai Provinces told The Epoch Times that they had to take rescue measures on their own, as help didn’t arrive soon enough.

They also said that many houses are also no longer safe to live in, and local residents had to set up temporary tents in the streets and were taking risks to collect necessities from their damaged houses due to a lack of aid.

“Almost all old houses collapsed. The others are cracked,” Zhaluo (pseudonym), a hotel owner in Yangbi County, told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on May 22. “I’m scared. We have to self-rescue with our friends and relatives.”

A woman looks out from a building damaged by an overnight earthquake in Yangbi County of Dali Prefecture, in China's southwest Yunnan province on May 22, 2021. AFP via Getty Images

Residents also said they were hearing updates from neighbors that many people were injured during the earthquakes. But official news channels controlled by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced only limited injuries.

Yangbi County in southwestern China’s Yunnan Province was hit by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake near the border with Burma (also known as Myanmar), approximately 20 miles northwest of Dali, on late May 21. The quake came from a depth of eight kilometers—five miles—killing three and injuring 28, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

A resident from Tiezhu Road, Cangshan West Township in Yangbi, told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on May 22: “The regime didn’t set up a relief tent here. We just went back home to find something to eat when it was relatively calm (without aftershocks). Some people had nowhere to go and sat on the side of the road at night.”

On May 23, the state-run Global Times, quoting Chinese earthquake experts, reported that there had been at least 1,585 foreshocks and aftershocks in Yangbi, with the strongest registering as a 5.6 magnitude quake that struck roughly 27 minutes before the 6.4 magnitude quake.

A man cooks in front of tents set up for people displaced by an overnight earthquake in Yangbi County of Dali Prefecture, in southwestern China's Yunnan Province on May 22, 2021. AFP via Getty Images

A second strong earthquake, registering as a 7.4 magnitude quake, hit Madoi County in northwestern China’s Qinghai Province on May 22. The quake destroyed local bridges and houses, injuring at least 13 people, according to an official announcement.