China: Earthquake kills at least 118 people in northwest China

It is the country’s deadliest earthquake in nearly a decade. Rescuers are trying to find survivors under the rubble after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 118 people overnight in northwestern China. It happened about 1,300 km southwest of Beijing, in Gansu province, near the border with Qinghai province.

At least 105 people were killed and about 400 injured in Gansu province after a strong earthquake, according to a report released Tuesday morning by local authorities. The disaster left 13 people dead, 182 injured and 20 missing in the city of Haidong in neighboring Qinghai province, according to public broadcaster CCTV.

Freezing point

The earthquake damaged thousands of homes, many of them ramshackle brick buildings, and forced residents to flee to the cold streets for shelter. Hundreds of people in Gansu were also evacuated as temperatures plunged well below zero in northern China.

“I almost died of fear. Look how my arms and legs are shaking,” said a woman in her thirties in a video posted on social media by People’s Daily. “When I ran out of the house, part of the mountain collapsed and crashed onto the roof,” she added, wrapped in a blanket and holding her baby in her arms.

Worst score since 2014

It is the highest death toll following an earthquake in China since at least 2014, when more than 600 people were killed in southwest Yunnan province. China is regularly the scene of earthquakes, sometimes very deadly: in 2008, a powerful earthquake in Sichuan province left more than 87,000 people dead or missing, including 5,335 schoolchildren. In September 2022, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Sichuan province killed nearly 100 people.

Xinhua News Agency reported that the earthquake on the night of Monday to Tuesday had a magnitude of 6.2 and was felt even in the large city of Xi’an, located about 570 km from the epicenter. The US Geological Survey (USGS) recorded a magnitude of 5.9.

New earthquakes to watch out for in the coming days

The earthquake was followed by several dozen more tremors. In the coming days, you should be wary of new earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 5. Another quake, measuring 5.2 in magnitude, was detected Monday morning in Xinjiang province, which borders Gansu to the west, according to the US Geological Survey.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “every effort” in the search and rescue operations, which began early Tuesday, to ensure the safety of survivors and their property.

The strong earthquake in Gansu also caused widespread damage, with nearly 5,000 homes damaged in the province. There were also interruptions in water and electricity supplies in villages around the epicenter. State media claim that electricity has since been partially restored.

According to CCTV, more than 1,400 firefighters and rescuers were sent to the disaster area, and more than 1,600 were on standby. The central government has already allocated 200 million yuan (26 million euros) in emergency assistance to “guarantee the safety of people and property, and minimize the impact of losses due to the natural disaster.”