M5.3 earthquake near Bowangshan, Sichuan

What happened

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 32 km SSE of Xunchang, China on 27 Jan 2017, 18:46 UTC at a depth of 32 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Moderate. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Bowangshan, about 26 km away in Sichuan, China.