The earthquake’s epicenter was located approximately 8 kilometers from the county seat of Jishishan Bao’an, within Liugou township.
At least 111 were killed in a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in northwest China’s Gansu and Qinghai provinces on Monday (December 18) midnight, the local earthquake relief headquarters said.
The region experienced a shallow earthquake at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, with a focal depth of 10 kilometers, as reported by the China Earthquake Networks Centre. Experts note that shallow earthquakes have the potential to inflict severe damage to infrastructure.
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Epicenter of China’s earthquake
The earthquake’s epicenter was located approximately 8 kilometers from the county seat of Jishishan Bao’an, within Liugou township, situated in the Dongxiang and Sala autonomous county of Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture in Gansu.
Qinghai province shares borders with the Tibet Himalayan region, known for its susceptibility to frequent earthquakes attributed to the continuous shifting of continental plates.
The earthquake damaged houses, roads, as well as other infrastructures, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted eyewitnesses from the area as saying.
Aftermath of massive quake
Several villages suffered power failures and disruption of water. According to local meteorological authorities, the daily low temperature in Jishishan is reported to climb minus 10 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.
The provincial fire and rescue department sent 580 rescuers aided with 88 fire engines, 12 search and rescue dogs, and 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 railway tracks.
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Hu Changsheng, the ruling Communist Party chief of Gansu, and Ren Zhenhe, the governor of Gansu, have rushed to the disaster-hit area to command rescue and relief efforts. Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered all-out rescue efforts to minimise casualties after the earthquake.
(With inputs from PTI)
