Overnight Earthquake claims 118 kills in mountainous northwest China.
The China Earthquake Networks Center reported that shortly before midnight on Monday, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 struck in Gansu at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (six miles). The magnitude was 5.9 according to U.S. Geological Survey measurements.
In the nearby provinces of Qinghai and Gansu, search and rescue operations were in progress. According to media reports, the earthquake severely damaged houses and roads, knocked out power and communication lines, and injured over 500 people.
At a press conference, Han Shujun, a spokesperson for the provincial emergency management department, reported 105 deaths and 397 injuries in Gansu by mid-morning, with 16 cases deemed critical.
State media reported that in Qinghai, an area north of the epicenter, there were 182 injuries and 13 more fatalities. According to the China News Service, another 20 people went missing in Qinghai after being buried by a landslide.
Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of the epicenter, experienced the earthquake along with many other places in the surrounding area.
A Lanzhou University student shared pictures and videos of students hurriedly exiting a dorm and standing outside wearing long down jackets over their pajamas.
The student who uploaded the pictures, Wang Xi, claimed that the earthquake was too strong. “My legs felt weak, especially after running from the dorm downstairs.”
The earthquake occurred in the Jishishan county of Gansu, roughly 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Qinghai provincial boundary. The Chinese capital, Beijing, is located approximately 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) southwest of the epicenter. About ten hours after the earthquake, at 10 a.m., there had been nine aftershocks, with the largest one measuring 4.1 in magnitude, according to a Gansu official.
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