Shaking of Shenzhen skyscraper sends people fleeing, leading to evacuation and official investigation

A landmark skyscraper in downtown Shenzhen started to shake for unknown reasons on Tuesday afternoon, leading to an emergency evacuation of thousands of people.

The Shenzhen Emergency Management Bureau said it had received reports that the SEG Plaza, a 20-year-old, 79-floor building with a height close to the Empire State Building in New York, was wobbling and that relevant authorities were still investigating the matter.

The bureau said that there had not been an earthquake in the city when the shaking took place at around 1:50pm. The local weather report also showed a wind speed in Shenzhen of around 27km per hour, a speed unlikely to cause the shaking of high-rise buildings.

The SEG Plaza is the fifth-tallest building in China’s boomtown and is at the heart of Huaqiangbei, the world’s largest bazaar of hardware and electronics components.

According to video clips on Chinese social media, many people were seen rushing from the building. There have been no reports of casualties, injuries or property losses.

Chen Wei, a hard drive vendor at the SEG Electronics Market attached to the SEG Plaza, said he had not felt any shaking but was told to leave the building with others. “One of my friends was in the [high rise] building and noticed that the water bottles on the desk started to shake,” Chen said.

Chen said there were also evacuations of nearby buildings and road traffic was temporarily blocked.