A Chinese research institute located in the southwestern metropolis of Chengdu apologised on Monday for initially issuing a higher magnitude earthquake warning than what other monitors said occurred, sparking some panic among people.
China’s Earthquake Networks Center said a 4.7-magnitude earthquake struck Yibin in southwest China’s Sichuan province at 8.26am (0026GMT) on Monday.
However, the Institute of Care-Life, a Chengdu-based disaster reduction laboratory, issued a 7.7-magnitude earthquake alert just five seconds after the quake struck.
The institute used the name of the “China earthquake early warning network” – a seismic alert system developed by Care-Life – without authorisation to issue the 7.7-magnitude alert to the public through Honor and Vivo smartphones, as well as Xiaotiancai smartwatches, according to state-backed newspaper the Global Times.
Addressing the significant discrepancy, it said that the network revised the estimate lower to 6.4 at the sixth second, 3.7 at the seventh second, 4.1 at the eighth second and 3.9 at the 16th second.
The Institute of Care-Life said it will investigate the cause for the deviation as soon as possible to improve its services. The false alert caused panic among many users, the Global Times said.
A magnitude-5.7 earthquake struck a remote province in China in July with a second quake of magnitude 5.8 following just 18 minutes later.
The earthquakes in Xinghai county in the northwestern Chinese province of Qinghai struck at 11.16am and 11.34am on Tuesday at a depth of 10 kilometres (6 miles), with the epicentre located in a sparsely populated, high-altitude area about 244 km (152 miles) from Xining, the capital of Qinghai.
In May, a 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck the south Guangxi region, killing two people, toppling buildings and triggering the evacuations of thousands.
Four others were injured, while more than 7,000 residents were evacuated from Liuzhou city.