Chinese skyscraper evacuated in panic after it starts shaking and wobbling: Watch

One of China’s tallest skyscrapers was evacuated on May 18 after it started shaking, sending shoppers scrambling for safety in the southern city of Shenzhen. According to BBC, the 300-metre high SEG Plaza began to wobble at around 1:00pm (local time), prompting an evacuation of people inside while pedestrian looked on from the streets outside. The 70 storeys building, which is home to a major electronic market as well as various officers in the downtown of one of China’s fastest-growing cities, was sealed shit soon after. 

The local authorities do not know yet what caused the building to shake. No earthquakes were recorded at the time. Emergency management officials are investigating what caused the tower in Shenzhen's Futian district to wobble, according to a post on the Weibo platform.

China’s Global Times said that the local government of Shenzhen's Futian district, where SEG Plaza is located, received reports of shaking from staff inside the building at 12:31pm (local time). By 1:00pm, everyone inside the building had been evacuated. The local officials also said that a preliminary investigation found "no cracks in the ground surrounding the building" and no damage to "pieces of outer wall".

Previous building collapses in China 

It is worth mentioning that the SEG Plaza was completed in 2000 and it is the 104th-tallest building in China and 212th-tallest in the world. The tower is named after the semiconductor and electronics manufacturer Shenzhen Electronics Group, whose offices are based in the complex. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat skyscraper database, it is the 18th tallest tower in Shenzhen. 

Previously, building collapses have been known to happen in China. Last year in May, a hotel being used as a coronavirus quarantine facility in the Chinese city of Quanzhou collapsed, killing 29. The devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake also caused more than 69,000 deaths, and the disaster ignited a storm of public controversy over poorly constructed school buildings, which collapsed killing thousands of students.

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