LIUZHOU, China — A shallow, 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the early hours of Monday morning, May 18, 2026, leaving a local couple dead, toppling buildings, and forcing the urgent evacuation of thousands of residents.

The tremor hit the Liunan District of Liuzhou City at 12:21 a.m. local time at a relatively shallow depth of 8 kilometers, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC). The midnight timing caught many residents’ asleep, triggering scenes of panic as families rushed into the streets.

State broadcaster CCTV identified the two deceased victims as a married couple—a 63-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman. Their bodies were recovered by emergency crews early Monday morning from the debris of a collapsed structure.

While the disaster brought immense heartbreak, rescue teams also celebrated a miraculous survival. A 91-year-old man was successfully pulled from the rubble by emergency workers. Medical teams on the scene confirmed he is currently in stable condition and is receiving treatment at a local hospital.

As of Monday morning, local officials reported that four additional people have been hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, while emergency personnel continue to search for one resident who remains missing.

The shallow depth of the quake intensified its impact on local infrastructure, causing at least 13 buildings to completely collapse. State media broadcasts showed harrowing footage of heaps of shattered concrete and brick piled beside heavily damaged homes, with panicked residents fleeing high-rise buildings in the immediate aftermath.

In response to the crisis, a massive mobilization of emergency services was triggered as over 315 emergency responders and 51 specialized fire and rescue vehicles rushed to Liunan District. While authorities successfully evacuated more than 7,000 displaced residents to temporary shelters, the government also scaled up its official intervention.

The central Ministry of Emergency Management activated a Level-IV emergency response—deploying a dedicated work team to guide local relief efforts—while regional authorities simultaneously upgraded the local response to Level-III.

Search dogs and heavy earthmoving machinery continue to comb through the wreckage in a race against time to locate the missing individual.

Despite the localized structural destruction, regional officials confirmed that critical utilities—including communication networks, power grids, water, and gas supplies—have remained mostly operational.

However, regional transportation has experienced significant disruptions. Railway authorities have temporarily halted and delayed multiple train lines across southern China to allow engineers to thoroughly inspect tracks, bridges, and tunnels for hidden structural damage.

With emergency workers still on the ground, local meteorologists and seismic centers are closely monitoring the area for potential aftershocks, urging evacuated citizens to remain cautious and stay clear of compromised structures.