More than 110 people died in an earthquake on the night of Monday, December 18, to Tuesday, December 19, in Gansu province, northwest China, state media reported on Tuesday morning.
The earthquake, with a magnitude of 5.9 according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), caused significant damage; Houses collapsed, forcing residents to flee into the streets, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “every possible effort” to be made to ensure the safety of survivors and their property during search and rescue operations that began early Tuesday.
The earthquake occurred in Gansu Province, near the border with Qinghai Province. At least a hundred people were killed and many more injured in Gansu province, state broadcaster CCTV said, citing the provincial earthquake relief center. According to the broadcaster, eleven more people were also killed and around 100 injured in the city of Haidong in the neighboring province of Qinghai.
The station broadcast images of emergency vehicles driving along snow-covered highways to the scene of the accident with their blue lights on. Emergency workers dressed in overalls stood shoulder to shoulder in the trucks, while other images showed them lined up in rows to receive instructions. You can also see emergency services searching the rubble with torches and unfolded stretchers.
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Videos posted on social media show destroyed ceilings and rubble. According to the Xinhua news agency, water and electricity supplies were interrupted in some villages.
At a depth of 10 km
Temperatures fell well below freezing in northern China and footage broadcast on CCTV from one of the worst-hit areas showed residents warming themselves near a fire as rescue workers set up tents.
Immediately after the earthquake, authorities sent emergency relief personnel to the region and provincial leaders were also on the way, Xinhua reported.
The earthquake struck at 11:59 p.m. local time (16:59 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.
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