A government employee looks at the rubble of a house destroyed in the earthquake in Jishishan County, northwest China's Gansu Province, Tuesday, December 19, 2023.
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A government employee looks at the rubble of a house destroyed in the earthquake in Jishishan County, northwest China's Gansu Province, Tuesday, December 19, 2023.
AP
BEIJING – A powerful earthquake struck a remote part of western China overnight, killing at least 118 people and injuring more than 200, state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday.
The earthquake struck Jishishan county in the southwestern part of Gansu province, near the border with Qinghai province – a mountainous region partly populated by members of the Tibetan, Hui, Dongxiang and Salar ethnic groups.
According to Xinhua, the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.2. Of the dead, 100 were in Gansu and another 11 in Qinghai.
The quake damaged water, electricity, transportation, communications and other infrastructure in the region, it said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for immediate comprehensive efforts to search, rescue and treat the injured. He also called for the rapid deployment of relief supplies and infrastructure repairs as the affected area is at high altitude and the winter weather is cold.
The US Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 5.9 and reported several aftershocks.
Rescue teams told Chinese media that frozen roads made it difficult to travel to towns and villages in Jishishan county, the worst-hit area. It is a mountainous region that is home to numerous ethnic minority groups, including Tibetans and Salar. Rescuers are now working in average temperatures of about 14 degrees Fahrenheit, well below freezing.
About 10 hours later, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck further west in the Xinjiang region, near China's border with Kyrgyzstan. The earthquake occurred in a remote area. No injuries or damage to buildings have been reported so far.
NPR's Emily Feng contributed reporting.