BEIJING - Rescue work is under way in north-western China, one of the country’s poorest regions, after an earthquake struck Gansu province at 11.59pm on Dec 18, killing at least 116 people.
Electricity, water, transport and communication have been cut off in some areas due to the 6.2-magnitude earthquake, official state media Xinhua reported on the morning of Dec 19.
The quake struck in Gansu’s Haidong city, which is near the border with Qinghai province. Tremors were felt as far as Xi’an in Shaanxi province, some 570km away.
A total of 4,782 homes have been damaged or destroyed, with hundreds of people injured.
Videos and images of collapsed buildings, shaken residents and emergency rescue operations flooded Chinese social media right after the deadly tremors.
When the earthquake first hit at around midnight, people posted videos of home chandeliers and hanging light bulbs swinging wildly. Buildings were also shaking, as seen on videos on Douyin, the Chinese TikTok, as well as Kuaishou, another short-video streaming platform.
As the tremors intensified during the night, people were seen rushing down staircases and going out onto the streets to seek safety, amid the blasting of sirens in the affected areas.
A visibly shocked Gansu resident, still in pyjamas and clutching a blanket outside her home, told local media: “The whole house was trembling and my hands and legs are still shaking from the fear. I don’t think I can sleep at all tonight.”
On social media, residents posted videos showing fallen ceilings and other collapsed structures, together with clips showing rescue workers searching for survivors amid the debris and rescued residents warming themselves by fires. Temperatures have fallen to sub-zero in the northern part of China amid a harsh winter.
About 1,440 national firefighters were dispatched to the disaster area for rescue operations, with an additional 1,603 firefighters from Gansu and neighbouring provinces on standby.
Roads that were blocked due to landslides triggered by the earthquake have since been cleared, with electricity and communications also restored, Xinhua reported on the morning of Dec 19.
Officials are watching out for after-shocks of a magnitude of at least 5.0. At least 32 aftershocks had been recorded as of 8am on Dec 19, with the largest at a scale of 4.0.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for “all-out efforts” in the search and relief work, as well as in ensuring the safety of survivors and their property.
China’s deadliest earthquake in recent decades struck in 2008, when an 8.0-magnitude earthquake left about 87,000 people dead or missing in south-western Sichuan province, which is south of Gansu. In 2014, an earthquake in Yunnan, also in south-western China, killed at least 600 people.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiiQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5zdHJhaXRzdGltZXMuY29tL2FzaWEvZWFzdC1hc2lhL21vcmUtdGhhbi0xMTAta2lsbGVkLWluLWdhbnN1LW5vcnRoLXdlc3Rlcm4tY2hpbmEtYXMtNjItbWFnbml0dWRlLXF1YWtlLXN0cmlrZXMtbmVhci1taWRuaWdodNIBAA?oc=5
2023-12-19 04:52:00Z
CBMiiQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5zdHJhaXRzdGltZXMuY29tL2FzaWEvZWFzdC1hc2lhL21vcmUtdGhhbi0xMTAta2lsbGVkLWluLWdhbnN1LW5vcnRoLXdlc3Rlcm4tY2hpbmEtYXMtNjItbWFnbml0dWRlLXF1YWtlLXN0cmlrZXMtbmVhci1taWRuaWdodNIBAA
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