….as more than 120 killed by China’s deadliest quake in nearly a decade
At least 126 people were killed and hundreds more injured after an earthquake hit northwest China, state media reported Tuesday, as rescue teams scrambled to reach survivors in sub-zero temperatures.
The quake, China’s deadliest in nearly a decade, rocked Jishishan county in Gansu Province late Monday night, damaging houses and roads. Rescuers raced to search for survivors trapped under rubble, while residents rushed outdoors, huddling overnight in the bitter winter cold.
As of Tuesday morning, the quake has killed 113 people, injured 536 others and damaged more than 155,393 houses in Gansu, CCTV said. Rescue workers have pulled 67 people from the rubble and evacuated 685 others from the province, according to the state media outlet.
In the neighboring province of Qinghai, 13 people have died and 182 were injured, with 20 more still missing as of noon, according to local officials.
The quake struck just before midnight while many would have been sleeping in their homes. It measured 5.9-magnitude at the shallow depth just over 6 miles, according to the United States Geological Survey. The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) gave a slightly higher reading of 6.2 magnitude.
The epicenter is located close to the border between Gansu and Qinghai, a mountainous region on the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau. The quake was followed by nine aftershocks at magnitude 3 and above as of the morning, according to the CENC.
Electricity was restored in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, CCTV reported Tuesday. It is crucial to the areas amid the current need for heating.
Forecasts suggest temperatures could dip to as low as -19 degrees Celsius (-2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) in certain parts of the area affected by the earthquake over the next three days, according to the China Meteorological Administration.
The initial tremors lasted nearly 20 seconds and were felt in the provincial capital of Lanzhou 102 kilometers (63 miles) away, CCTV reported.
University students in Lanzhou shared photos on the social media site Weibo of crowds gathering outside their dormitories.
A student at Lanzhou University said when the quake struck, she first went to hide in the bathroom with her roommates, before running down 12 floors amid violent shakes.
“I’ve never felt such strong tremors,” she wrote in a Weibo post. “Wearing a down jacket, long underwear, and bare feet in slippers outdoors, where the temperature is lower than –10 degrees Celsius, (I’m) shivering with everyone.”
Some village homes in Gansu and Qinghai have collapsed into rubble, with firefighters pulling survivors out of the debris in the dark, footage from CCTV showed.
The quake initially also cut off water and electricity supply as well as mobile signals in some areas, complicating rescue efforts.
At least 4,000 firefighters, police officers and soldiers have been dispatched to the disaster zone in Gansu, along with thousands of tents, folding beds, quilts and portable fire pits, according to provincial officials.
