Residents of a Chinese city under COVID-19 lockdown were forced to stay at home during a 6.8-magnitude earthquake, reports say

Rescuers transfer survivors across a river following an earthquake in Moxi town in China's Sichuan province on September 5, 2022. The city of Chengdu is in the same province.

Cheng Xueli/Xinhua via AP

• The Chinese city of Chengdu was hit by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake on Monday.
• The city is under strict COVID-19 rules that meant some were forbidden to flee their homes, reports said.
• Videos shared online showed people unable to get out of their buildings, the reports said.

People in Chengdu, China, were prevented from leaving their buildings during an earthquake, with authorities citing the city's COVID-19 lockdown rules, multiple reports say. 

The city of Chengdu, where 21 million people live, is under strict COVID-19 rules and was hit by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake on Monday. At least 65 people died from the earthquake, the Associated Press reported.

The city's rules mean that most people are confined to their apartment building or residential complex, the AP reported.

Some people in the city were told they had to stay inside during the earthquake, and some people who tried to leave their buildings found that the exits were closed due to quarantine rules, the BBC reported.

Videos shared on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, showed people shouting to be let out from behind gated doors.

None of the earthquake deaths have been linked to people stuck in buildings, the BBC reported.

The AP also reported that people wearing protective gear stopped people from getting out of apartment buildings after the earthquake.

The Washington Post reported, citing a screenshotted group chat of apartment-building residents, that a building manager in the city had told people to stay in their apartments during the earthquakes.

The manager later told Chinese state media, according to The Post: "No matter how severe the earthquake is, it can't be that severe. It's safest to stay at home."

Chengdu's health commission said on Monday night that saving people's lives in natural disasters should come before pandemic rules, The Post reported.

China operates on a zero-COVID strategy, which means strict lockdowns are put in place to try and stamp out the virus even when only a few cases are recorded.

Read the original article on Business Insider

from Business Insider https://ift.tt/apD0v7J