UPDATED 9/6/2022 3:35 PM EDT

In southwest China’s Sichuan province, rescuers scrambled to evacuate and help thousands of victims after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Ludin province on Monday, killing at least 66 people and injuring 253 others.

Ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping’s call for “comprehensive relief efforts … prioritizing saving lives and minimizing casualties” grabbed the front pages of state-controlled media on Tuesday.

A resident of Moxi, a town not far from the epicenter of the quake, which was measured 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the provincial capital Chengdu, said the epicenter was in the scenic tourist area of ​​Hailuogou, a few kilometers outside the city.

“Basically, a lot of people were crushed under it [collapsed] houses in their own houses; most of the dead and casualties are under the houses,” a resident, who gave only his surname Lee, told RFA on Tuesday.

“The official announcement is that 29 people have died in Kardze Prefecture, for a total of 46 people, including Shimian County and villages around Hailuogou area,” Li said. For example, some people fell under a landslide while walking along the road.

Lee said rescue efforts were “too fast” to appear in the area.

Li says many of the buildings around Hailuogou were built to rent out to tourists using the app.

“A lot of people around Hailuogou borrowed money or their relatives gave them money and they built these houses on credit,” Li said, adding that the government insisted that locals develop the tourism industry rather than illegal income. entry.

“Many had lost their land and had no income, so they thought they would invest in these guesthouses and restaurants by borrowing, but the government is not making long-term plans,” he said. Safety controls on newly constructed buildings in the earthquake-prone area were weak.

A Tibetan source in the area told RFA on condition of anonymity that residents have been told they are not yet out of the forest.

“Tibetans living in cities are currently staying in makeshift tents set up in open areas, and Chinese authorities have advised them to continue to be vigilant and prepared.”

Meanwhile, authorities in Chengdu continued to enforce a city-wide COVID-19 lockdown despite buildings collapsing and shaking in the city, according to video clips uploaded to social media.

Resident Wang Yan said that he felt the earthquake very strongly in his apartment.

“I was at home and I started to feel dizzy – the stool I was sitting on swayed,” Wang said. “I wanted to get up and go to the toilet, but I couldn’t stand up.”

“It was like trying to walk on cotton cloth and it kept swaying for a long time,” he said.

A resident of Mianyang, one of the hardest hit areas in the May 12, 2008 earthquake that killed 89,000 people, said they had seen strange animal behavior shortly before the earthquake.

“Bats and birds gathered together and flew around and the fish in the fish ponds here started jumping out of the water,” says the resident. “People said it meant there was going to be an earthquake.”

“Of course it happened within eight hours,” the person said.