At least 118 people were killed and hundreds injured in the powerful 6.2-magnitude earthquake that struck western China’s Gansu province, state media reported.
The authorities mobilized all emergency services, but the rescue operation was hampered by the low air temperature, which is below zero.
The earthquake was registered at 11:59 p.m. local time, at a depth of 10 kilometers, and struck Zhishishan County, the China Earthquake Center announced.
According to official data, 20 people are missing.
The epicenter of the earthquake was five kilometers from the border between Gansu and neighboring Qinghai Province, where a strong tremor was also felt.
About 2,200 people from the fire department and 900 from the forest brigade, as well as 260 professional rescuers, were dispatched to the disaster zone, Xinhua news agency reported. Hundreds of members of the army and police were also engaged.
Earthquakes are common in western provinces such as Gansu, which lie on the eastern border of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, a tectonically active area.
