China earthquake updates: At least 105 were killed in Gansu province, while 11 others died in Haidong city in the neighbouring province of Qinghai.
At least 116 people were killed and nearly 400 others injured when a powerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck China’s Gansu and Qinghai provinces, a remote mountainous region, just before midnight, the local earthquake relief headquarters said on Tuesday.
According to the China Earthquake Networks Centre, the shallow earthquake jolted Gansu and Qinghai provinces at 11:59pm on Monday, with a focal depth of 10 kilometres. The epicentre of the earthquake Liugou township is about 8 kilometres from the county seat of Jishishan Bao’an, Dongxiang, Sala autonomous county in Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture in Gansu.
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Latest updates on China earthquake:
1. At least 105 were killed and almost 400 injured in Gansu province, local officials said, after the strong, shallow tremor struck around midnight.
2. According to state broadcaster CCTV, 11 others were killed and 100 injured in the city of Haidong in the neighbouring province of Qinghai.
3. The quake brought homes crashing down and caused other significant damage, sending people running into the street for safety, state news agency Xinhua said. The quake has damaged 6,381 houses in Jishishan.
4. Chinese President Xi Jinping issued important instructions regarding the earthquake, 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. Premier Li Qiang also issued instructions.
5. Experts said shallow quakes cause heavy damage to infrastructure. Qinghai province is adjacent to the Tibet Himalayan region which is prone to frequent earthquakes due to shifting of continental plates.
6. A second quake struck the neighbouring Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region hours later on Tuesday.
7. As many as 32 aftershocks were recorded, with the largest registering a magnitude of 4.0, said Han Shujun, a spokesperson for the provincial emergency management department, at the press conference.
8. The provincial fire and rescue department sent 580 rescuers aided with 88 fire engines, 12 search and rescue dogs, and more than 10,000 sets of equipment to the disaster area.
9. Footage from CCTV showed family possessions visible among strewn masonry from a house that caved in during the quake.
10. The temperature in Linxia, Gansu, near where the quake occurred, was about minus 14 degrees Celsius on Tuesday morning. Most of China is grappling with freezing temperatures as a cold wave that started last week continued to sweep through the country.
(With inputs from AP, PTI, Reuters)