Southern parts of Nanjing were struck last week by not one, but two earthquakes, as Nanjingers began their Christmas evening celebrations. While neither were serious, both serve as a reminder that earthquakes are a local reality, albeit relatively rare in their occurrence.
The two quakes occurred in Jiangning District of Nanjing City on 25 December, 2020, at 17:54’37” and 17:54’55”, and were of magnitude 2.3 and 2.7.
At a depth of 12 kilometres, the epicentre of the quakes was 31°49’ north, 118°46’ east, translating to the Xiahuimiao Residential Community in Damaogeng Village of Jiangning District.
According to statistics collected by the Nanjing Seismological Bureau, the two tremors were generally felt across the urban area of Nanjing, while their effects in Jiangning, Yuhuatai and Qinhuai Districts were quite obvious.
A Mr. Sheng, a citizen living in Jiangning, told reporters that he clearly felt vibrations in his house, at an interval of about 10 seconds. Sheng also claimed he could could hear sounds similar to thunder.
This correspondent, who also lives in Jiangning, felt what amounted to a gentle jolt. “I was sitting down at the time and so was just swayed a little to one side. Had I been standing though, I almost certainly would have been caught off balance.”
Mobile monitors that had been set up in Damaogeng Village by a municipal earthquake emergency field team discovered no aftershocks by 21:00 the same day. Experts also stated it is unlikely that another quake of any destructive capability will occur in the same area in the next few days.
No casualties or damage to property was reported, revealed the Yangtze Evening News.
While earthquakes in Nanjing are relatively uncommon, the Christmas Day incident was fact the second of the year. On 3 March, a tremor of magnitude 3.0 struck the city that, according to experts, was the largest quake in the city’s main urban area since scientific instruments became available.
Telephone lines were knocked out in the vicinity of the quake’s epicentre that was near to Nanjing’s Hongshan Zoo Metro Station.
