(Yicai Global) April 11 -- More than 400 million people across China are affected by the second sandstorm of this year or the No. 8 dust storm in 2023.

The dust-laden whirlwind that started from the southern parts of Mongolia and the central and western parts of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on April 9 has moved across 15 provincial-level administrative regions with a total area of about 2.3 million square kilometers and a population of 409 million as of today, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The storm has reached the level of a sandstorm, the second this year but weaker than the first one, according to the National Meteorological Center. The peak PM10 level in multiple regions in northern China has exceeded 2,000 micrograms per cubic meter, experts at the NMC said.

The heaviest concentrations of particulate matter in the air are moving south as the PM10 levels in southern parts of Henan and Shandong provinces have surpassed 500 µg/m3, according to official weather data.

Editors: Shi Yi, Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi