More than 110 people were killed and hundreds more injured by an earthquake in northwestern China late Monday night, according to state media.
The 6.2-magnitude quake struck Jishishan County in Gansu, southwest of the provincial capital Lanzhou, reports said, with the effects also felt in neighbouring Qinghai province, where at least 11 people died as a result. There were four major aftershocks that followed the initial quake, which hit just before midnight local time, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered “all-out” rescue efforts early Tuesday, “demanding full-scale search and rescue efforts, proper resettlement of affected people, and maximum efforts to ensure the safety of people’s lives and property.”
More than a thousand firefighters and rescue workers have been deployed to the disaster area, but efforts have been hampered by the high altitude of the region and freezing weather. There were reports of houses destroyed and power and water outages across affected parts of Gansu.
The temperature in Linxia, Gansu, near where the quake occurred, was about -14 C on Tuesday morning. Much of China is grappling with a cold-weather front that started last week continuing to sweep through the country.
With a file from Reuters