A Mw 6.7 (Ms 6.8) earthquake struck Luding County in Sichuan province, China on 5 September 2022 at 12:52:19 local time.

As Himalayan underthrusting continues, the crust of the Eurasian Plate is deformed and uplifted to form the Tibetan Plateau.

Left-lateral strike-slip motion squeezes the crustal blocks of the Tibetan Plateau outwards, forcing it to move eastwards.

Meanwhile, the strike-slip motion also results in an east–west extension of the plateau, causing normal faults to break within the thickened crust.

[1] According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake was a result of shallow strike-slip faulting on the western margin of the Sichuan Basin.

[8] The location and sense of motion are consistent with movement on or near the left-lateral Xianshuihe fault system, which runs for 350 km (220 mi).

[9] Many faults in this region are related to the convergence of crustal material slowly moving from the high Tibetan Plateau to the west, against the strong crust underlying the Sichuan Basin and southeastern China.

The Hailuogou accelerograph which was nearest to the epicenter recorded the highest peak ground acceleration (pga)—0.68 g in the north–south component.

The pga values at Hailuogou, Moxi Town and Detuo slightly exceeded the limit considered for earthquakes in the area.

It followed a drought and heat wave which had affected water and power supplies due to the province's dependency on hydropower.

[28] The Alpine Ecosystem Observation and Experiment Station of Gongga Mountain, a research facility, partially collapsed,[29] killing a graduate student, and injuring three.

[41] In Luding County, a section of Sichuan Provincial Highway 211 was buried under a landslide while another was obstructed by rockfalls.

[48] The earthquake-produced shaking assigned a maximum seismic intensity (CSIS) of IX over the mountainous northwestern region of the province.

[53] Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, asked local officials to "make saving lives the first priority, go all out to rescue people in disaster-stricken areas and minimise loss of life".

Li Keqiang, the Premier of the State Council, urged a "swift evaluation of the situation, as well as all-out rescue and medical treatment efforts".

More than 6,500 emergency rescue personnel from Ganzi, Chengdu, Deyang, Leshan, Ya'an, Meishan, and Ziyang were dispatched to the epicenter.

[60] In Moxi, personnel from the Sichuan Forest Fire Brigade rescued trapped residents from the rubble and transported the injured over a river.

[63] All 219 people previously trapped for over 50 hours at Hailuogou National Geological Park were successfully evacuated to Moxi via helicopter.

The administration added that "post-earthquake geological conditions are inherently fragile, and the impact of additional rainfall may lead to landslides and mudslides".

[58] The Red Cross Society of China provided 1 million yuan (US$143,000), 450 tents, 3,000 relief packages, 2,400 beds, and 1,200 blankets.

[73][74] Over 3,600 people and 70 search and rescue dogs from Chongqing, Gansu, Guizhou, Yunnan, Qinghai, and other nearby regions were put on standby for possible interregional efforts.

The State Reserve Bureau and Ministry of Emergency Management allocated 3,000 tents, 10,000 quilts, 10,000 beds, and other relief supplies to relocate residents of Luding County.

[78] PetroChina operated three gas stations at its facilities in Kangding and Ganzi to ensure its supply for disaster relief.

[82] CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, said that the company pledged to donate to relief efforts, although the amount of money was not disclosed.

[83] When the earthquake struck, residents in Chengdu who attempted to flee their homes found the exits to these buildings locked.

Under China's Zero-COVID response and stringent lockdown rules, apartment blocks were locked to keep residents indoors.

[84] Videos of these incidents, where frightened residents were locked from inside their apartments, circulated online and sparked anger among netizens.

In response, the Chengdu Health Commission said "priority should be given to safeguarding the lives of the public in the event of earthquakes, fires, floods and other disasters".

The statement stated that rescue workers were required to present a negative nucleic acid test certificate within 24 hours and a green health code.

Survivors were regularly tested for COVID-19 every day and had to disclose their travel history by logging their location on a mobile app.