A 5.4-magnitude earthquake hit Xinlong County in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province, at 13:17 Thursday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).
The epicenter was located at 30.84 degrees north latitude and 99.86 degrees east longitude. The quake occurred at a depth of 10 km, a report from the CENC stated.
The country's earthquake early warning system issued alerts 11 seconds in advance to 21 primary schools, secondary schools, and kindergartens in Xinlong through various channels, including warning terminals, mobile apps, and third-party platforms.
After initial assessments, local communication signals, power, and water supplies are functioning normally. Structural cracks were observed in some homes, but no casualties have been reported so far.
The Ministry of Water Resources quickly activated the emergency response system and took prompt measures, conducting an assessment of rivers, small hydropower stations, levees, rural water supply projects, and hydrological stations within a 50-mile radius of the epicenter.
The ministry also further informed local water authorities and urged a thorough assessment of any earthquake-related damage to these projects. So far, water conditions in the affected area remain stable.
5.4-magnitude quake strikes southwest China's Sichuan
An artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model specialized for analyzing human genetic diversity was launched at Shanghai's cutting-edge Model Speed Space innovation hub on Tuesday.
Named SNPBAG, it is the world's first large model built specifically for genomic analysis, promising to precisely predict diseases and advance personalized health care.
The model focuses on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the most common type of genetic variation among people, which influence traits such as height, intelligence and personality.
Currently, SNPBAG can be used for ancestry tracing and kinship identification. In the future, with further training, it is expected to predict disease risks at various life stages based on DNA sequences, offering higher screening accuracy than existing genetic testing methods.
"As far as we know, traditional methods examine SNPs point by point for correlations with traits like height or intelligence, without taking into account, for example, interactions between or among genes. Therefore, we need a model that can autonomously identify these complex relationships. Now, we've found such a tool that can bring close two gene expressions [of the human body] that are far away from each other and provide biological interpretations," said Tang Kun, an expert of computational biology and founder of Shanghai Feipu Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.
Looking ahead, the model will support the development of China's sovereign genomic database, promote its domestic self-reliance, enhance AI-driven drug discovery and improve the target screening success rates by over 200 percent. It also aims to make precision health care more accessible.
"The most well-known application is non-invasive prenatal screening. Currently, only a few conditions are covered by national insurance, but there are over 20,000 rare diseases in children. We are now collaborating with Shanghai Children’s Hospital to expand screening coverage," said Lu Sitong, CEO of Shanghai Feipu Intelligent Technology.
With SNPBAG, non-invasive prenatal screening is expected to detect a broader range of rare diseases in the future. The company said it also plans to launch consumer-facing products to benefit the general public.
China launches world's first foundation model for genomic analysis
