Magnitude 5.5 earthquake strikes Qinghai province in China

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Qinghai province in China, near the Yellow River, at a depth of 14 km. The quake follows recent seismic activity in the region, including a deadly 6.8-magnitude tremor in Tibet.

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Qinghai province on Wednesday, with its epicentre near the Yellow River, northern China’s main waterway.

The quake occurred at 3:44 p.m. (0844 GMT) in Madoi county, Golog prefecture, at a depth of 14 km (8.7 miles), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC). The epicentre was around 200 km west of Madoi’s county seat, home to a predominantly Tibetan population, including resettled former nomadic herders.

This follows a series of seismic events in the region, including a deadly 6.8-magnitude earthquake in Tibet and a smaller 3.1-magnitude tremor in Sichuan on Tuesday.

The Qinghai-Tibetan plateau frequently experiences seismic activity, with 102 quakes of magnitude 3 or higher recorded within 200 km of Wednesday's event over the past five years, the largest being a 7.4-magnitude quake in 2021.

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