A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck the mountainous Gansu and Qinghai provinces in northwest China, resulting in the deaths of at least 118 people and injuries to over 500 others.
The tremors damaged houses, roads, power and communication lines, water, and electricity. The earthquake’s epicentre was 800 miles southwest of Beijing, and tremors were felt as far as 60 miles away.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for an all-out search and rescue effort to minimise casualties, and the People’s Armed Police Force has been called in to aid search and rescue operations. Tents, folding beds, and quilts are being sent to the affected areas.
Gansu has been the most brutal hit, with 105 people confirmed dead and 397 injured, while in Qinghai, 13 people have been reported dead and 182 wounded. One village, Caotan, was hit by a landslide triggered by the earthquake, and 20 people have been reported missing.
Earthquakes are somewhat common in the mountainous area of western China that rises to form the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau. Last September, at least 74 people were reported killed in a 6.8 magnitude earthquake that shook China’s southwestern province of Sichuan, triggering landslides and shaking buildings in the provincial capital of Chengdu.
China’s deadliest earthquake in recent years was a 7.9 magnitude quake in 2008 that killed nearly 90,000 people in Sichuan. The tremor devastated towns, schools, and rural communities outside Chengdu, leading to a years-long effort to rebuild with more resistant materials.
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