- Gansu province, midnight quake
- NW China earthquake: 127 dead
- Rescue efforts underway
The most devastating earthquake to strike northwest China in recent years has claimed the lives of at least 127 individuals.
At midnight on Monday (16:00 GMT), a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck the mountainous province of Gansu, which also sent tremors through neighboring Qinghai.
The toll may increase, as over 700 injuries have been reported due to the frigid conditions.
President Xi Jinping of China has dispatched thousands of rescue personnel to the region, which is among the most diverse and impoverished in the country.
The recent earthquake is the deadliest in the nation since 2014’s Yunnan earthquake, which killed over 600 people.
State television and social media networks broadcast footage on Tuesday depicting entire communities shattered by the earthquake, in addition to collapsed houses and structures.
Those who had fled their residences were also observed huddling over improvised fires in evacuation sites that had been hastily constructed. Tuesday saw temperatures low at -13°C (8.7°F), according to Chinese media.
Aftershocks were described as “being tossed by surging waves” and survivors had to evacuate their apartments quickly.
“I roused my family, and we hurriedly descended all sixteen floors in a single breath,” one man identified by Chinese media as Mr. Qin stated.
Local authorities in Jishishan county, the most severely affected in Gansu province, reported that over 5,000 structures had been damaged. Dozens of roads in the province have been damaged by landslides, and numerous structures have been destroyed by mudslides initiated by the earthquake.
A director of the Gansu rescue team was quoted by Chinese media as attributing the extensive destruction to substandard construction in the villages, where many dwellings were outdated and constructed of clay.
Gansu borders Mongolia and is situated between the Tibetan and Loess plateaus. The secluded area is ethnically diverse and among the poorest in China.
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Linxia Hui Prefecture: Epicenter of 6.2 quake
Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, inhabited by numerous Chinese Muslim communities including the Hui, Bonan, Dongxiang, and Salar, was the epicenter of the earthquake.
According to Chinese authorities, the earthquake’s magnitude was 6.2 on the Richter scale, whereas the US Geological Survey (USGS) documented a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) and a magnitude of 5.9.
Approximately ten aftershocks have been detected, according to local authorities.
Xinjiang, the province situated to the west of Gansu, also documented a magnitude 5.5 earthquake on Tuesday. However, immediate reports did not indicate any casualties.
Disruptions in the provision of power and water have impeded rescue operations throughout the region.
Officials report that there is little time remaining to rescue individuals from the subzero temperatures.
“The temperature here is -15 degrees Celsius, which is unbearably low,” stated Wang Yi, the Blue Sky Rescue Team’s chief commander.
Operating throughout the nation, Blue Sky is the preeminent non-governmental humanitarian organization in China, employing over 30,000 volunteers.
Mr. Wang predicted that the number of casualties would increase. “We must now expand our excavation into the rubble.” There are no large structures in the area, however. Therefore, it will rise, albeit marginally, he explained.
President Xi said search and rescue operations, injury treatment, and casualty reduction must be done carefully.
China is situated in an area where several tectonic plates converge, including the Eurasian, Indian, and Pacific plates. It is especially susceptible to seismic activity.
In 2010, an earthquake struck Yushu, Qinghai province, adjacent to Gansu, resulting in the loss of nearly 2,700 lives.
In 2008, China’s southwest Sichuan province suffered the deadliest earthquake in decades, killing 87,000 people.
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