Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report   

Video Credit: AsiaWire

This is the moment two giant pandas scamper up a tree in double quick time after an earthquake interrupts them mid-meal.

Footage taken at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in China’s south-western province of Sichuan shows the two-year-olds sprinting up the same tree trunk with surprising dexterity.

It happened as the adorable giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) bears were noshing on bamboo leaves when a magnitude 4.6 tremor struck nearby city of Mianyang at 3:20pm local time on 9th December.

The animals, reportedly named Zhen Xi and Jing Liang, instinctively drop their food and make for the nearby tree trunk which they quickly climb.

Shocked tourists who appear never to have seen pandas move at such speed before are left gasping and laughing as the panicking bears reach safety.

The footage shows a third bear having already beaten them to the top of the tree, and already making its way into the high branches during the quake.

According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, the earthquake struck at a depth of 10,000 metres (7.4 miles).

The otherwise minor quake did not cause the panda base visitors any panic, and no casualties have been reported thus far.

Giant pandas are arguably China’s most important animal species, contributing greatly to tourist numbers as well as so-called panda diplomacy.

As of November 2019, there were more than 600 pandas in captivity around the world, reports said.

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