At least 118 dead after earthquake in China

At least 118 people have died in a severe earthquake in northwestern China. The hardest-hit area is Jishishan County in Gansu Province. People are enduring freezing temperatures in the cold.

According to state news agency Xinhua, more than 500 injuries were reported after the earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale occurred late in the evening.

According to state news agency Xinhua, the earthquake, which occurred around midnight, had a magnitude of 6.2. The most significant damage is reported in Jishishan County, about 100 kilometers southwest of the million-city Lanzhou – where the earthquake was also felt. Parts of the neighboring Qinghai province are also affected.

According to reports, houses have collapsed, and roads have been damaged. The power supply was cut off in several places, and the water supply was interrupted. Many people are enduring freezing temperatures in the cold. The mountainous earthquake region experiences extremely cold temperatures. According to the local weather authority, the lowest temperature in Jishishan is expected to reach minus 10 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.

The provincial fire and rescue department has dispatched rescuers to the region. The railway authority has suspended train services through the earthquake-affected area.

State television shows rescue teams searching for survivors in the debris. Around 2,200 rescue personnel have been dispatched to the disaster area, according to state news agency Xinhua. China’s state and party leader, Xi Jinping, called for all efforts to be made to rescue people.

Earthquakes frequently occur in the western parts of China on the Tibetan Plateau. The most severe earthquake in China in recent decades occurred in 2008 in Sichuan Province. Officially, about 70,000 people died at that time, and 18,000 people are still missing.