CHINA EARTHQUAKE 110+PEOPLE DIED IN EARTHQUAKE

EARTHQUAKE IN CHINA

China Earthquake Today: Death toll rises to 111 after earthquake in China’s remote northwest

Earthquakes are common in western provinces such as Gansu, which lie on the eastern boundary of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, a tectonically active area.

MAGNITUDE

A magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted a

remote and mountainous county on

the northern edge of the Qinghai-

Tibetan plateau around midnight on

Tuesday, killing at least 111 people

and injuring more than 230,

according to Chinese state media.

The quake struck Jishishan county in

China’s northwestern province of

Gansu at 11:59 p.m. local time (1559

GMT) on Monday at a depth of 10 km

(6.2 miles), according to China

Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

CHINA EARTHQUAKE 110+PEOPLE DIED IN EARTHQUAKE

COMMON IN WESTERN

Rescue and relief efforts are under way and a working group has been dispatched to assess the impact of the disaster, state media said, with the number of missing people in the quake’s aftermath unknown.

Earthquakes are common in western provinces such as Gansu, which lie on the eastern boundary of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, a tectonically active area. China’s deadliest quake in recent decades was in 2008 when a magnitude-8.0 temblor struck Sichuan, killing nearly 70,000 people.

The epicentre of the latest quake was 5 km from the border between Gansu and a neighbouring province. Strong tremors were felt in many parts of Qinghai province, the official Xinhua news agency said.

CHINA EARTHQUAKE 110+PEOPLE DIED IN EARTHQUAKE

HIGH ALTITUDE XINHUA

About 2,200 rescue personnel from the provincial fire department and forest brigade as well as professional emergency rescue teams were dispatched to the disaster zone, Xinhua reported, adding that the military and police were also engaged in rescue work.

China’s national commission for Disaster Prevention, reduction and Relief and Ministry of Emergency Management have activated a level- IV disaster relief emergency, Xinhua reported.

As the disaster area is in a high- altitude region where the weather is cold, rescue efforts are working to prevent secondary disasters caused by factors beyond the quake, Xinhua said.

The temperature in Linxia, Gansu, near where the quake occurred, was about minus 14 degrees Celsius (6.8°F) 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.