8th January 2025 – (Urumqi) The China Earthquake Network Centre has officially confirmed that at 3.44pm today, a 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck Madoi County in Guoluo Prefecture, Qinghai Province, with an epicentre depth of 14 kilometres. Areas including Dunhuang, Urumqi in Xinjiang, and Korla reported feeling the tremors.
Situated on a plateau with sparse population, the surroundings within a 5-kilometre radius have an average altitude of approximately 4270 metres. According to seismic information broadcasts, the epicentre is 65 kilometres from Madoi County town and 437 kilometres from Xining city.
Madoi County, located in the Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, is in southeast-central Qinghai province, bordering Sichuan to the south. Covering an area of about 25,000 km², it holds the distinction of being the highest Chinese county by average elevation at 4,300 metres.
