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At least 126 other people were killed and about 700 injured after an earthquake struck a mountainous region in northwestern China.
Rescue workers are braving sub-zero temperatures as a search and rescue operation is underway in Gansu and neighboring Qinghai provinces.
The earthquake struck at 11:59 p. m. (16:00 GMT) with a surface intensity of 10 km, causing landslides and material damage.
Freezing weather has shortened the “golden window” for earthquake survivors, said Shi Wanjin, captain of the Gansu Houtian Emergency Relief Corps.
It was followed by a second 5.5 magnitude earthquake hours later in neighbouring Xinjiang.
The earthquake destroyed around 5,000 houses and destroyed electricity, communications and water pipes, while roads were also severely affected.
President Xi Jinping said “all efforts should be made to carry out search and rescue, treat the injured in a timely manner, and minimise casualties”.
China’s Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Emergency Management jointly allocated 200 million yuan (£22. 1 million) to the quake-hit provinces of Gansu and Qinghai, CCTV reported.
Death toll rises to 126 as search for missing people continues
Rescue official says ‘golden window’ for quake survivors is narrowing
Toll rises to 118
Authorities rush to rescue survivors after magnitude 6. 2 earthquake
China’s Xi Jinping calls for ‘all out’ efforts in earthquake-hit regions
07:01, Shweta Sharma
Frigid weather has shortened the “golden window” to locate earthquake survivors, said Shi Wanjin, captain of the Gansu Houtian Emergency Rescue Corps.
“The golden rescue time of this earthquake will be shortened,” Mr Shi was quoted as saying by China News network.
He explained that this is due to the magnitude of the injured and the climatic situations in the area.
10:29, Shweta Sharma
The death toll from China’s deadliest earthquake in more than a decade has risen to 126 and 700 injured.
Authorities said more than 155,000 homes in Gansu were either damaged or destroyed in the powerful earthquake.
Rescue personnel are preparing to provide makeshift shelter and food to others displaced by the crisis as thousands of citizens prepare to spend the night in frigid conditions.
In Gansu, another 113 people were killed at 1 p. m. (05:00 GMT) on Tuesday and 536 wounded, the government said.
The death toll in Qinghai stands at least 13 people, with 182 injured.
Authorities said the search for 20 missing people continues.
10:10 a. m. , Shweta Sharma
Chinese infantrymen have set up mobile kitchens in earthquake-hit Gansu province to supply freshly cooked food to the homeless during the crisis.
A video shared via the Global Times showed him running into a makeshift kitchen.
At the relief site in Dahe village, Gansu province, infantrymen from the PLA’s Western Theater Command set up cell kitchens to supply hot food to the affected masses. pic. twitter. com/HGib2lQTST
– Global Times (@globaltimesnews) December 19, 2023
09:00, Shweta Sharma
08:26 , Shweta Sharma
The 6.2 magnitude earthquake was China’s deadliest since 2008 when a much more powerful 7.9-magnitude quake struck Sichuan, killing more than 90,000.
It prompted a years-long struggle by authorities to rebuild the town with more resistant materials.
In September last year, at least 74 other people were killed in a magnitude 6. 8 earthquake in the southwestern province of Sichuan. This triggered landslides and construction tremors in the provincial capital of Chengdu, where another 21 million people were under lockdown due to Covid-19. 19.
08:09 , Shweta Sharma
Pakistan’s interim prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kaka said they are “deeply saddened” to learn about the earthquakes in northwestern China.
“Deeply saddened to be informed of the loss of valuable lives as a result of the earthquake in Gansu Province, China. Our deepest condolences to our Chinese brothers and sisters in this hour of mourning,” Mr. Kakar said.
07:51, Shweta Sharma
The major earthquake that struck northwest China last night triggered several earthquakes that cut cities off roads and highways.
Authorities said other people were missing after a landslide in Qinghai. A landslide in one village left many houses partially covered in brown silt.
Rescuers have deployed drones, excavators and bulldozers to find and rescue survivors, local media reported.
The tremors were felt up to 1,000 kilometers away in central China’s Henan province, where media shared videos of furniture swaying in homes.
A primary hydroelectric dam located 50 km from the epicenter was not affected by the earthquake. CCTV reported that the dam, on the upper reaches of the Yellow River, is functioning normally.
07:41, Shweta Sharma
Authorities in quake-hit provinces said many more people were injured, and the death toll rose to 379 in Gansu and 182 in Qinghai, some of whom remain in critical condition.
About 20 more people are still missing as rescuers scrambled to pull survivors from the rubble.
About 2,200 personnel from the Gansu provincial fire department and 900 from the forest brigade, as well as 260 professional emergency rescue workers, were dispatched to the disaster zone, the Xinhua news agency reported, adding that hundreds from the military and police were also deployed.
The province earned 20 million yuan ($2. 8 million) for the emergency response and sent 2,600 cotton tents, 10,400 folding beds, 10,400 quilts, 10,400 cotton mattresses and 1,000 sets of stoves.
07:18 , Shweta Sharma
China’s PLA Western Theater Command sent Y-20 transport planes to Lanzhou, capital of Gansu, to bring infantrymen to the front lines of the disaster.
The emergency command organization is expected to assist the local government in rescue and rescue operations, as officials said a window was final due to harsh weather conditions.
The Xian Y-20 is a strategic transport aircraft and a military transport aircraft developed in China for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
It is among the largest military transport aircraft in the world.
A Y-20 transport plane from the PLA’s Western Theater Command arrived in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu, on Tuesday to bring the emergency command organization to the front lines of the crisis to coordinate relief efforts after the earthquake. /8uJgJNweLS pic. twitter. com/dPB6firypa
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) December 19, 2023
06:32, Shweta Sharma
Gansu, categorised as one of China’s least affluent provinces, has houses constructed with clay and mud, according to experts and local authorities.
The houses are not built strong enough to withstand earthquakes, and the severity of the damage was exacerbated by the fact that the earthquake occurred late at night, which likely made it difficult for other people to flee.
The domain is basically made up of small communes and villages, with a population of about 260,000 in Jishishan County, according to a local official quoted through party-affiliated media.
One official, Li Yong, said the local government lacked enough clothes, duvets and shoes and would need them from the provincial government.
In 2020, as part of a nationwide initiative to ostensibly eliminate rural poverty by the year’s end, provincial authorities officially declared that Jishishan was no longer considered “poverty-stricken”. However, people say little changed on the ground in practice.
Gansu encompasses regions situated in an earthquake-prone zone stretching from Mongolia in the north to Myanmar in the south.
As the crisis domain is in a high-altitude region with a temperate climate, relief efforts are aimed at preventing secondary errors caused at other points besides the earthquake, Xinhua said.
The weather was the biggest challenge in the relief efforts, local media reported, citing a local crisis reaction expert.
While 72 hours after an earthquake is the maximum likely time frame to rescue survivors, that time will be shortened due to harsh weather conditions, and trapped victims will face a greater risk, he added.
06:14 , Shweta Sharma
Chinese president Xi Jinping called for “full-scale search and rescue efforts” and asked local authorities for proper resettlement of affected people.
He said “all efforts should be made to carry out search and rescue, treat the injured in a timely manner, and minimise casualties”.
06:09, Shweta Sharma
Recounting the moments when the earthquake struck, a man said his family rushed down to 16 floors after they felt strong tremors.
“I live on ground 16 and I felt the tremors very strong. At the moment of the earthquake, I felt as if I was being shaken by the crashing waves. . . I woke up my circle of relatives and we lowered the 16 plots in one breath,” said a Gansu resident.
She said it was freezing cold (-12°C) when they came out and saw her terrified neighbours, some of whom had run out without warm clothes.
Residents said they spent the night in their cars, driving away from the epicentre.
05:49, Shweta Sharma
A magnitude-6. 2 earthquake killed another 118 people and injured 500 others late Monday in a mountainous region of northwestern China.
The earthquake struck at 11:59 p. m. (16:00 GMT) with a surface intensity of 10 kilometers in Gansu province and neighboring Qinghai province, the China Seismic Network Center said.
A few hours later, a magnitude 5. 5 earthquake struck neighboring Xinjiang.
Read our full report.
At least 116 people in earthquake in northwest China
05:46 , Shweta Sharma
Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen expressed condolences to China on the devastating earthquake and said Taiwan was willing to provide assistance to China.
“My deepest condolences to all those who lost their loved ones in the recent earthquake in northwest China,” he said in a tweet.
“We pray that all those affected will get the assistance they want and hope for a speedy recovery. Taiwan is in a position to offer its assistance in crisis response efforts.
05:44 , Shweta Sharma
China‘s finance ministry and emergency management ministry have allocated 200m yuan ($28m) in natural disaster relief funds.
State television CCTV reported that the funds will be used in earthquake-hit Gansu and Qinghai provinces.
05:29 , Shweta Sharma
Quake-affected families are forced to gather outdoors or in makeshift tents in adverse weather conditions after thousands of homes were destroyed and the risk of aftershocks persists.
Social media users during the earthquake shared stories of bonfires in their backyards or burning cardboard to keep warm. They described the shock of finding their neighbors and family members dead as they tried to assess the damage to their homes.
The temperature in Linxia, Gansu, near the quake site, hovered around -14°C on Tuesday morning.
Tents, folding beds and duvets have been sent to help the crisis and makeshift accommodation has been set up for the homeless, according to CCTV.
05:12, Shweta Sharma
The death toll from the powerful earthquake has risen to 118 and another 20 people are missing.
The death toll is expected to rise further as rescuers continue to work while many remain seriously injured.
Authorities have mobilized a variety of emergency responses, but rescue operations can be complicated in subfreezing temperatures. Most of China is grappling with frigid temperatures as a bloodless wave that began last week continues to sweep across the country.
In Gansu, another 105 people were killed in the quake at 7:50 a. m. (23:50 GMT Monday), and of the 397 injured as of 9:30 a. m. , 16 were in critical condition, the provincial government told a news conference. .
The death tally in Qinghai rose to at least 13 with 182 injured, state media reported.
05:12 , Shweta Sharma
CCTV footage from inside a store in Gusan showed furniture shaking just before midnight as the earthquake struck.
The video shared via the People’s Daily China also shows the aftermath of the earthquake with debris strewn across roads and villages.
Other nightly videos broadcast through state media showed staff lifting a victim and helping a gently stumbling user walk through a domain covered in soft snow.
#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
04:55, Shweta Sharma
Emergency workers are scrambling to reach survivors in sub-zero temperatures in China’s Gansu and Qinghai provinces after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake flattened houses and killed scores of people.
At least 116 people have died and 500 others are injured, including several in critical condition, after the earthquake struck towns as people slept or prepared for the night.
The epicenter was about 1,300 kilometers southwest of Beijing, the Chinese capital.
04:39, Shweta Sharma
Welcome to The Independent about the deadly earthquake in China’s Gansu and Qinghai provinces.
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