Dry Weather Will Aid Deadly China Earthquake Search, Rescue

By Courtney Spamer, Meteorologist

July 22,2013; 8:01PM,EDT

 

 

 

On Monday morning, Beijing time, the USGS measured a 5.9-magnitude earthquake.
The epicenter was in central China's Gansu province, west of the city of Tianshui. Gansu has a population of 26 million.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, the death toll has risen to 89 and more than 500 people have been injured.
Additionally, a good amount of structural damage was reported in the area. Brick and stone walls crumbled and glass on the side of a high-rise building shattered. Thousands of homes have been reported damaged thus far.
The epicenter of the initial earthquake and aftershocks are shown on this USGS map.
The epicenter of the earthquake lies in the Himalaya, an area where the India and Eurasia plates have been colliding and converging at a rate of 40-50 mm per year.
Following the first quake, there was a series of aftershocks, one of which registered at 5.6.
Largely dry weather is expected across the region through at least Wednesday which will aid any rescue and relief efforts.
A storm system will then bring the threat for a soaking rain and even a thunderstorm Wednesday night into Thursday. This will be followed by a lighter rainfall Friday night into Saturday. Any rainfall could hamper further relief efforts.
Meteorologist Eric Leister contributed to this story.