Panic as 4.5-magnitude earthquake jolts Beijing residents from sleep

A light earthquake shook Beijing in the early hours of Wednesday, startling residents and sending students rushing out of dormitories.

The 4.5-magnitude quake struck at 1:21 a.m. local time in a suburb of Tianjin at a depth of 10 kilometers.

China’s Earthquake Networks Center, however, recorded the quake at 4.2 magnitude and a depth of 20 kilometers.

The Beijing Earthquake Agency said the epicenter was 13 kilometers from the capital, causing noticeable tremors in some areas.

Authorities confirmed no structural damage to buildings and assured residents that life would continue as normal.

Beijing sits on a seismically active plain with multiple fault lines, making occasional tremors common.

Despite this, many residents were shocked to experience an earthquake strong enough to wake them at night.

Social media was flooded with videos of shaking rooms, swaying ceiling lights, and students evacuating dormitories.

One Beijing resident told CNN she received an earthquake alert but chose not to run after assessing the situation.

A university student, Chirimiri Li, said she first mistook the tremors for fatigue until she saw people running outside.

“When we saw others evacuating, we decided to be safe rather than sorry and ran outside too,” she said.

The students stayed in an open space for about 30 minutes before returning to their rooms.

On social media, many noted that students were the most active in evacuating, while office workers ignored the quake.

“Office workers are already too lazy and numb to care, sleeping with eye masks and earplugs,” one comment read.