An earthquake overnight has killed at least 118 people in a cold, mountainous region of northwest China, provincial officials said on Tuesday, in the country’s deadliest earthquake in 10 years.
Emergency authorities in Gansu province issued an appeal for 300 additional workers to comb collapsed buildings and for other search and rescue operations. Officials in neighboring Qinghai reported 20 people missing in the landslide, according to Chinese state media.
The earthquake, measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale, injured more than 500 people, severely damaged homes and roads, and cut power and communication lines, regional officials and media reports said.
It struck before midnight Monday near the border between the two provinces at a relatively shallow depth of 10 6 miles, the China Earthquake Network Center said.
The US Geological Survey measured the magnitude at 5.9.
At least 118 people have been killed in a 6.2-magnitude earthquake in the cold and mountainous region of northwest China. via REUTERS
By mid-morning, 105 people had been confirmed dead in Gansu and another 397 injured, including 16 in critical condition, a provincial emergency department official said at a news conference.
Thirteen others were killed and 182 injured in Qinghai in the area north of the epicenter, a local Communist Party official said at a separate news conference.
The earthquake was felt in many surrounding areas, including Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, about 60 miles northeast of the epicenter.
The earthquake injured more than 300 people, damaged homes and roads, and cut power and communication lines. via REUTERS
Photos and videos posted by a student at Lanzhou University show students hurriedly leaving the dormitory building and standing outside with long jackets over their pajamas.
“The earthquake was too strong,” said Wang Xi, the student who posted the image. “My legs get weak, especially when we run down from the hostel.”
The death toll is the highest since the April 2013 earthquake that killed 196 people in southwest China’s Sichuan province.
Rescue workers carry out search and rescue operations in Kangdiao village following the earthquake in Jishishan district. via REUTERS
The country’s worst earthquake in recent years was a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in 2008 that killed nearly 90,000 people and destroyed towns and schools in Sichuan, leading to a years-long effort to rebuild with more resistant materials.
The latest earthquake hit Jishishan county in Gansu, about 3 miles from the province’s border with Qinghai. The epicenter was about 800 miles southwest of Beijing, the Chinese capital.
There were nine aftershocks by 10 a.m., about 10 hours after the initial quake, the largest of which registered a magnitude of 4.1, a Gansu official said.
The earthquake occurred in Gansu’s Jishishan district, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the province’s border with Qinghai. AP/Chinatopix
The remote and mountainous area is home to several predominantly Muslim ethnic groups and nearby Tibetan communities.
Geographically, it is in the center of China, although the area is usually referred to as the northwest, as it is on the northwestern edge of the denser China plain.
Tents, folding beds and blankets were sent to the disaster area, state broadcaster CCTV said.
The earthquake was felt in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of the epicenter. AP
It quoted Chinese leader Xi Jinping as calling for an all-out search and rescue effort to minimize casualties.
The overnight low in the area was minus 5 to 16 degrees, the China Meteorological Administration said.
The Beijing Youth Daily, a Communist Party newspaper, quoted an unnamed rescue coordinator as saying there was a need for generators, long coats and fuel for stoves, among other items.
One person injured in the earthquake was rushed to a hospital in Minhe Hui. Xinhua/Shutterstock
The coordinator recommended sending halal food because of the ethnic composition of the affected population.
At least 4,000 firefighters, soldiers and police officers were dispatched in the rescue effort, and the Western Theater of the People’s Liberation Army set up a command post to direct its work.
Han Shujun, a spokesman for Gansu’s provincial emergency management department, asked people to avoid going to earthquake-hit areas to avoid traffic jams that could hamper rescue and relief work.
University students in Lanzhou rushed out of their dormitories, according to social media posts with images showing young people rushing out of the building and standing outside. AP
A video posted by the Ministry of Emergency Management showed emergency workers in orange uniforms using rods to try to move heavy pieces of what appeared to be concrete fragments at night.
Other nighttime videos distributed by state media showed workers lifting victims and helping people who had stumbled slightly to walk in the snow-covered area.
High school student Ma Shijun ran out of his dormitory barefoot without a coat, according to a Xinhua report. He said the strong shaking left his hands somewhat numb, and teachers quickly organized the students on the playground.
Students gather outside after moving out of their dorms. AP
CCTV reported damage to water and electricity lines, as well as transport and communication infrastructure.
Earthquakes are relatively common in the mountainous region of western China that rises to form the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau.
Last year in September, 93 people were killed in a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that shook southwest China’s Sichuan province, triggering landslides and shaking buildings in the provincial capital Chengdu, where 21 million people are under a COVID-19 lockdown.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
