A 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck Liuzhou in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region early on Monday, leaving two people dead while a 91-year-old man was successfully rescued from beneath the rubble, authorities said.

The quake hit at 00:21 am with a shallow focal depth of 8 kilometers, regional seismological authorities confirmed. Its epicenter was in Taiyangcun town, approximately 16 km from central Liuzhou.

Five aftershocks, ranging from magnitude 2.2 to 3.2 with a peak of 3.3, followed. Tremors were distinctly felt across Liuzhou and neighboring cities including Nanning, Guigang, Wuzhou and Hechi.

By 4 am, 13 buildings had collapsed in the quake-stricken areas, and more than 7,000 local residents were evacuated to safe grounds. Local communications, power grids, water supply, gas services and road traffic remained intact, officials added.

State and regional disaster response mechanisms were activated immediately after the quake.

China's emergency management authorities rolled out a Level IV national earthquake emergency response and dispatched an on-site task force to oversee relief work.

Guangxi launched a matching initiative, sending a 38-member expert team to conduct seismic monitoring and disaster assessments. Liuzhou activated a Level III local emergency response at 1 am, marshaling fire, police, transport and utility rescue teams. A contingent of 315 firefighters aboard 51 rescue vehicles raced straight to the quake's epicenter.

At 8:14 am, rescuers retrieved two victims from collapsed residential buildings in Taiyangcun community, medics later pronounced them dead. The victims were identified as a 63-year-old man and his 53-year-old wife.

Search efforts concluded by 11:10 am, when rescuers safely pulled the last trapped resident — the 91-year-old man — from the debris. He was in stable condition and was promptly transferred to a hospital for further checkups and care. All previously reported missing persons have now been located.

Earlier statistics showed four other people sustained injuries and received in-hospital treatment. Local disaster relief authorities have launched full-scale safety checks of buildings, bridges, mines and potential geological hazard zones to fend off secondary disasters.

Displaced residents are being housed at two designated temporary shelters, equipped with 48 emergency tents, foldable beds, quilts, drinking water and daily necessities.

The Ministry of Emergency Management said the central government has urgently dispatched 10,000 central-level disaster relief supplies to Guangxi, including tents, foldable beds, summer quilts, towel blankets, foldable tables and chairs, to support local evacuation, resettlement and relief efforts.

Heartwarming acts have emerged amid the crisis. Personnel at a local nursing home swiftly arranged evacuations, safely moving all 29 elderly residents without casualties. Local businesses and volunteers donated more than 6,000 servings of the local specialty, luosifen noodles, at shelters, bringing comfort to affected residents.

Regarding the quake's destructive power, Tan Jinxian, a senior engineer at the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region seismological bureau, explained that the shallow focal depth (less than 8 km) minimized energy loss, allowing seismic energy to transmit almost directly to the surface — making its intensity and destructive power far greater than deep-focus quakes of the same magnitude.

He noted that pre-2016 unfortified self-built homes in the epicenter had weaker earthquake resistance but called for calm. "People do not need to panic after the earthquake. Aftershocks are quite common. As long as houses are built in accordance with seismic fortification requirements, they will not collapse," he added.