The earthquake was also felt strongly in the cities of Xining and Haidong in Qinghai, where some houses collapsed and cracked. The fatalities were reported from Gansu and neighbouring Qinghai.

Beijing: An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale killed at least 116 people in a mountainous area of northwestern China. Rescuers were searching for survivors in rural Jishishan County in Gansu Province, the epicenter of the quake, officials from Gansu said at a news conference on Tuesday. The quake, which struck at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, had killed 105 people in the province and injured nearly 400 others. Eleven people in the city of Haidong in neighboring Qinghai Province were also killed, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The epicentre Liugou Township is about 8 km from the county seat of Jishishan Bao’an, Dongxiang, Salar Autonomous County in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu. The earthquake was also felt strongly in the cities of Xining and Haidong in Qinghai, where some houses collapsed and cracked. The fatalities were reported from Gansu and neighbouring Qinghai.

The earthquakes have left a trail of destruction, prompting emergency teams to sift through rubble to rescue those trapped. A video capturing the exact moment of one of the earthquake’s impacts has surfaced online, revealing the terrifying force that shook buildings and homes across the affected region.

New : 111 people have been killed and more than 200 have been injured after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit China’s #Gansu and #Qinghai provinces.#Earthquake #ChinaEarthquake pic.twitter.com/0UVibOR5hN

— Anand Panna (@AnandPanna1) December 19, 2023

#UPDATE: Video captured the moment when a 6.2-magnitude earthquake shook Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture in NW China’s Gansu on Monday night. The quake can be felt in major cities like Xi’an and Chengdu. pic.twitter.com/CrDeQBbnyO

— People’s Daily, China (@PDChina) December 18, 2023

The provincial fire and rescue department has sent 580 rescuers aided with 88 fire engines, 12 search and rescue dogs, more than 10,000 sets of equipment to the disaster area. The railway authority has suspended passenger and cargo trains passing through the quake zone and ordered a safety check of the tracks.

In the Dahejia Township where the temperature dropped to 16 degrees Celsius below zero at dawn, more than 140 medical staff at a local hospital were busy taking care of the injured people, some of whom also have loved ones out of contact in the quake.