Earthquakes are not uncommon in China. In August, a shallow 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck eastern China, injuring 23 people and collapsing dozens of buildings. (AFP)
Tragic earthquake in China’s Gansu province claims over 100 lives. President Xi Jinping urges all-out relief efforts. Latest updates on the rescue mission
At least 118 people were killed in an overnight earthquake in northwest China, state media reported Tuesday. In Gansu province alone, 105 were killed and 400 were injured after the strong, shallow earthquake struck, state broadcaster CCTV said, citing the provincial earthquake relief headquarters.
State media said that rescue and relief efforts are underway, with a working group dispatched to assess the impact of the disaster. At least 13 people were also killed and more than 182 injured in the city of Haidong in the neighbouring province of Qinghai. The quake caused significant damage, including collapsed houses, and sent people running into the street for safety, state news agency Xinhua said.
‘All-out efforts’
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “all-out efforts” in the search and relief work. The quake, which was logged as magnitude 5.9 by the US Geological Survey, struck in Gansu near the border with Qinghai, where Haidong is located. This is about 100 kilometres southwest of Gansu province’s capital, Lanzhou, and was followed by several smaller aftershocks. Preliminary analysis shows that the quake was a thrust-type rupture, one of three above magnitude 6 to have struck within 200km of the epicentre since 1900, state television CCTV said.
Xinhua reported the quake as magnitude 6.2. Power and water supplies were disrupted in some local villages, Xinhua said. Fallen ceilings and other debris could be seen in videos posted on social media. The earthquake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres at 11:59 pm local time Monday, according to the USGS, which revised the magnitude downward after initially reporting 6.0.
‘Freezing temperatures’
The temperature in Linxia, Gansu, near where the quake occurred, was about minus 14 degrees Celsius (6.8°F) on Tuesday morning. Most of China is grappling with freezing temperatures as a cold wave that started last week continued to sweep through the country. Xinhua reported that officials launched an emergency response and dispatched rescue personnel to the area just after the quake, and provincial leaders were also en route.
Earthquakes are not uncommon in China. Another earthquake of magnitude 5.5 struck the northwestern Xinjiang region, the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) said on Tuesday. Before this in August, a shallow 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck eastern China, injuring 23 people and collapsing dozens of buildings. In September 2022, a 6.6-magnitude quake hit Sichuan province leaving almost 100 dead. A 7.9-magnitude quake in 2008 left more than 87,000 people dead or missing, including 5,335 school pupils.
(With agency inputs)
