An earthquake killed at least 111 people overnight in northwest China's Gansu province, where rescue teams searched for survivors in the rubble, state media reported on Tuesday.
The earthquake, which the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said had a magnitude of 5.9, also caused significant damage, collapsing houses and forcing residents to flee into the streets, state agency Chine Nouvelle said.
The epicenter of the earthquake is about 1,300 km southwest of Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “every possible effort” to be made to ensure the safety of survivors and their property during the search and rescue operations that began early Tuesday.
The earthquake struck about 1,300 km southwest of Beijing in Gansu province and near the border with Qinghai province. Numerous smaller tremors followed.
After the severe earthquake, at least a hundred people were killed and many more injured in Gansu province, state broadcaster CCTV said, citing the provincial earthquake relief center.
Eleven more people were also killed and around 100 injured in the city of Haidong in neighboring Qinghai province, according to CCTV.
Numerous emergency services in action
The station showed footage of emergency vehicles heading towards the scene of the accident with their blue lights on over snow-covered highways.
On board the trucks, emergency workers dressed in overalls stood shoulder to shoulder in the trucks, while other images showed them lined up in rows to receive instructions.
Other footage showed emergency services searching through rubble by flashlight and laying out orange stretchers for the injured.
Temperatures fell well below freezing in northern China, and CCTV footage from one of the worst-hit areas showed residents warming themselves near a fire as rescue workers set up tents
Videos posted on social media show destroyed ceilings and rubble.
According to the Chine Nouvelle agency, water and electricity supplies were interrupted in some villages.
The earthquake struck at 11:59 p.m. local time (15:59 GMT) on Monday at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the USGS, which revised the magnitude down from 6.0 after the initial announcement.
According to the USGS, the earthquake struck about 100 kilometers southwest of Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, and was followed by several other smaller earthquakes.
Earthquakes are relatively common in China. In August, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake in eastern China injured 23 people and destroyed dozens of buildings.
In September 2022, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Sichuan province killed nearly 100 people.
And a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in 2008 left more than 87,000 people dead or missing, including 5,335 schoolchildren.