Three earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or above hit Mianzhu, a county-level city in Deyang City of southwest China's Sichuan province, on Sunday night, with no casualties reported so far, local authorities said on Monday.
According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, the quakes struck at 23:03, 23:20, and 23:30, with magnitudes of 4.5, 4.0, and 4.5, respectively. The focal depths of the quakes were 20, 15 and 18 kilometers.
The Deyang and Mianzhu earthquake relief headquarters activated emergency response and began damage assessments immediately after the quakes.
As of 5:00 on Monday, no casualties, collapsed or damaged houses, or damage to transport, power or communication facilities have been reported following rounds of inspections, with risk investigation still underway, according to a statement released by the Deyang earthquake relief headquarters on Monday.
No casualties reported following earthquakes in Sichuan
Direct flights operated by Spring Airlines between Taiwan's Kaohsiung and Ningbo of Zhejiang Province resumed on Saturday, marking the latest restoration of cross-Strait air services. This route will operate twice a week, with flights scheduled every Tuesday and Saturday.
Spring Airlines said passengers traveling between the two cities previously had to make transfers, with one-way journeys usually taking more than five hours. With the resumption of direct flights, travel time has been shortened to around two hours, greatly improving travel efficiency.
Several mainland airlines have recently resumed direct cross-Strait routes. China Eastern Airlines resumed direct flights between Taichung and Chengdu on July 1, while Shandong Airlines is expected to resume direct flights between Taichung and Qingdao on July 23.
China Eastern said the first resumed flight from Taichung to Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province, had carried 163 passengers. Local tourism operators said that, thanks to the restoration of direct flights, bookings for tours from Taichung to Sichuan are already extended several months ahead.
On April 12, the Chinese mainland rolled out a package of 10 policies and measures, spanning inter-party communication, infrastructure, travel, trade and culture, aimed at boosting exchanges and cooperation with Taiwan.
Direct flights between Kaohsiung, Ningbo resume
