Earthquake in northwestern China kills at least 131 people, the deadliest in nearly a decade
At least 131 people are dead and hundreds of others injured after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck northwest China, the nation’s deadliest quake in nine years, authorities said Tuesday.
The earthquake struck the province of Gansu late Monday, severely damaging infrastructure in the province and the neighboring province of Qinghai, the Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency said. More than 700 people were injured, according to officials and Chinese media reports.
State broadcaster CCTV said 113 were confirmed dead in Gansu and another 536 injured in the province. Eighteen others were killed and 198 injured in Qinghai, in an area north of the epicenter, CCTV said in an update early Wednesday.
The U.S. Geological Survey said it was a "notable quake" and gave a preliminary magnitude of 5.9. But Chinese authorities gave a higher reading, putting the earthquake at a 6.2 magnitude, according to Xinhua News Agency.
The earthquake had jolted Jishishan county in Gansu, about 3 miles from the provincial boundary with Qinghai, Xinhua News Agency said. The USGS said the earthquake struck about 23 miles west-northwest of Linxia Chengguanzhen with a shallow depth of just over 6 miles.
The earthquake was also felt in Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu, which is approximately 60 miles northeast of the epicenter and about 900 miles southwest of the Chinese capital, Beijing.
Nine aftershocks were felt by 10 a.m., about 10 hours after the first earthquake. The aftershocks were at least magnitude 3.0 or higher, with the largest at magnitude 4.1, officials said.
Nebraska earthquake: This Midwest state rarely has earthquakes. Then a 4.2 quake rumbled through.
'All-out search and rescue efforts'
Videos posted on X, formerly Twitter, by Xinhua News Agency showed emergency responders frantically searching through the rubble. State broadcaster CCTV reported that there was damage to water and electricity lines, as well as transportation and communications infrastructure.
Tents, folding beds, and quilts were being sent to the disaster area, CCTV said. Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping called for "all-out search and rescue efforts" in the area.
The overnight low in the area was 5 to 16 degrees Fahrenheit, the China Meteorological Administration said.
Latest earthquake to shake China
The death toll was the highest since an August 2014 quake that killed 617 people in southwest China’s Yunnan province. The country’s deadliest earthquake in recent years was a 7.9 magnitude quake in 2008 that left nearly 90,000 dead or presumed dead and devastated towns and schools in Sichuan province, leading to a yearslong effort to rebuild with more resistant materials.
In August, CNN reported that a magnitude 5.5 earthquake hit Pingyuan County in the eastern Shandong province and injured over 20 people.
In September 2022, at least 74 people were killed in a 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the southwestern province of Sichuan. The earthquake caused landslides and shook buildings in the provincial capital of Chengdu, where 21 million residents were under a COVID-19 lockdown, the Associated Press reported.
Iceland volcano eruption: Iceland volcano erupts on Reykjanes Peninsula after earthquakes, evacuations
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: China quake kills at least 131 as rescuers face freezing temperatures
