China Earthquake Tragedy: At Least 111 Dead as 6.2 Quake Hits Northwest

• A 6.2 earthquake in northwest China killed at least 111 people.
• Gansu province epicenter; tremors felt in Lanzhou.
• Over 200 people were injured.

China’s official media said on Tuesday that a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in a hilly area of the country’s northwest claimed the lives of at least 111 people.

The quake struck just before midnight on Monday, killing 100 people in the province of Gansu and another 11 in the nearby province of Qinghai, according to the official Chinese national news agency.

Xinhua reported that more than 200 people—96 in Gansu and 124 in Qinghai—were hurt. The earthquake occurred near the Jishishan county of Gansu, roughly 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Qinghai provincial boundary.

Its magnitude was estimated by the US Geological Survey to be 5.9.

Transportation and communications infrastructure, as well as electrical and water lines, were all claimed to have been damaged by state broadcaster CCTV.

The province capital of Gansu, Lanzhou, felt the earthquake, which was located roughly 1,450 kilometers (900 miles) southwest of Beijing.

An photograph of young people standing outside a hostel on social media suggested that university students in Lanzhou had hurried out of them.

According to CCTV, foldable beds, comforters, and tents were being sent to the disaster region. In order to reduce the number of victims, it cited Chinese Premier Xi Jinping as advocating for a comprehensive search and rescue operation.

In September of last year, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck Sichuan, a province in southwest China. The earthquake caused landslides and shook structures in Chengdu, the provincial capital, placing 21 million people under a COVID-19 lockdown. At least 46 people were reported killed in the incident.

The deadliest earthquake to strike China in recent memory occurred in Sichuan in 2008, with a magnitude of 7.9 and approximately 90,000 fatalities. Towns, schools, and rural communities outside of Chengdu were completely destroyed by the earthquake, which prompted a years-long endeavor to rebuild using stronger materials.

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