A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the remote and mountainous part of northwest China, killing over 111 people. According to local earthquake relief headquarters, the quake struck the ethnic county of Jishishan in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu province and neighbouring Qinghai province on Monday midnight.
Over 250 have been injured, and the number of missing people in the quake's aftermath remains unknown, reported Reuters, adding that earthquakes are common in western provinces such as Gansu, which lie on the eastern boundary of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, a tectonically active area.
According to the China Earthquake Networks Centre, the shallow quake had a focal depth of 10 kilometres, causing heavy damage to infrastructure. Several houses and roads were damaged as villages suffered power failures and water disruption.
Local media reports said residents, who were woken up by the quake, ran out of the buildings to open areas for safety. Videos and photos doing rounds on Chinese social media showed residents standing amid collapsed buildings wrapped in thick blankets. The daily low temperature in the quake-hit area is reportedly around minus 10 degrees.
"I live on the 16th floor and felt the tremors so strongly. The moment of the earthquake was feeling like being tossed up after surging waves… I woke my family up and we rushed down all 16 floors in one breath," a resident living near the epicentre was quoted by Chinese state-owned media Global News.
Firefighters were conducting rescue operations in earthquake-stricken areas at a minimum temperature of -12 C in Haidong, Northwest China's Qinghai Province. Haidong is located about 20 kilometers away from Jishishan county, Gansu Province, where the 6.2-magnitude earthquake… pic.twitter.com/9qrpogoTc6
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) December 19, 2023
Rescue efforts are also underway with the provincial fire and rescue department sending 580 rescuers, 88 fire engines, 12 search and rescue dogs, and more than 10,000 sets of equipment to the disaster area.
Army units from the PLA Western Theater Command were also ordered to undertake emergency response. Over 300 officers and soldiers were mobilised overnight and arrived in the severely affected area by 4 am Tuesday to commence personnel search and rescue operations, road clearance, and other tasks.
Hu Changsheng, the ruling Communist Party chief of Gansu, and Ren Zhenhe, the governor of Gansu, have rushed to the disaster-hit area to command rescue and relief efforts.
Power to the quake-hit area was being gradually restored, after the state grid sent 18 emergency repair teams.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered all-out rescue efforts to minimise casualties after the earthquake. Xi also asked local authorities to rescue and treat the injured people promptly to minimise casualties, and closely monitor the earthquake situation and weather changes to prevent secondary disasters, Xinhua added.
The President also urged the allocation of relief supplies to the affected regions as soon as possible, repair of damaged infrastructure such as electricity, communications, transportation and heating, and proper accommodation of the affected people to ensure their basic living needs.
