Residents describe Sunday's quake, recount memories of 1976 tragedy

By ZHANG YU in Tangshan, Hebei | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2020-07-14 09:02
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Firefighters visit residents and check for damage in Guye district, Tangshan, Hebei province, which was hit by a 5.1 magnitude earthquake on Sunday. [MU YU/XINHUA ]

Firefighters carry out thorough checks at epicenter

Wang Guizhi was squatting beside a faucet in her yard early on Sunday, filling a bucket with water, when the ground started to shake.

A door near her crashed open before the 58-year-old shouted, "Earthquake!" Her husband was standing against a gate at the end of their yard about 5 meters away.

The couple's one-story house, with two bedrooms and a living room, stands at the other end of the 40-square-meter yard. A paved path connects the gate and the house, and chives, onions and corn are planted on either side.

"Go to the center of the yard and sit down quickly!" her husband shouted as he rushed toward her.

"We both sat down in the yard and saw our house shake from side to side," Wang said, recalling the scene when a 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck Qianweifengshan village in Tangshan's Guye district, Hebei province.

The quake, which occurred at 6:38 am, struck at a depth of 10 kilometers, the Ministry of Emergency Management said. Guye district, the epicenter, is about 170 km southeast of Beijing and some 130 km northeast of Tianjin.

After a few seconds, the ground and house stopped shaking. The couple stood up and walked out to the street. "Our neighbors were there, talking about the incident," Wang said.

After chatting with the neighbors for several minutes, Wang ran back to the house to check for damage. "There were no cracks and nothing had fallen down in the rooms," she said.

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