China: earthquake kills at least 127 people in the North-West

Rescuers are working Tuesday in the freezing cold at dusk to find survivors in the rubble of remote villages after a powerful earthquake which killed at least 127 people the previous night in northwest China, the most murderer for almost ten years in the country.

The earthquake struck just before midnight Monday, about 1,300 km southwest of Beijing in Gansu province near the border with Qinghai province.

At least 113 people were killed and more than 530 injured in Gansu province after the violent earthquake, according to a new count provided Tuesday evening by state media.

The disaster also left 14 dead and 198 injured in Haidong, a city in the neighboring province of Qinghai, said the state newspaper People’s Daily.

The earthquake damaged more than 155,000 homes, according to state television CCTV, and sent residents running into the cold for shelter.

In a village near the epicenter, an AFP team saw a brick house with huge cracks and the roof of a building completely collapsed.

“I am 70 years old and I have never experienced such a powerful earthquake in my life”confides to AFP Ma Wenchang who lives there. “I can no longer live (in this house). My loved ones have all been relocated elsewhere.”

Further on, the roof of a mosque has sagged lopsidedly and a building is reduced to ruins.

AFP saw roads filled with military and emergency vehicles, with trucks covered in red banners reading “earthquake relief”.

In one square, volunteers rush to set up tents to serve as a camp for rescuers. Around twenty military trucks are parked nearby.

“The most urgent thing for us is to prepare everything quickly because the temperatures will drop to -17°C this evening” one of the volunteers explains to AFP.

Worst record since 2014

It is the deadliest earthquake in China since 2014, when more than 600 people died in Yunnan province (southwest).

According to the Xinhua news agency, the 6.2 magnitude tremor was felt as far away as the large city of Xi’an, about 570 kilometers from the epicenter.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured a shallow earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 at 11:59 p.m. local time (3:59 p.m. GMT) and located the epicenter about a hundred km from Lanzhou. , regional capital of Gansu.

The earthquake was followed by several dozen other tremors, with authorities warning that new earthquakes of magnitude greater than 5 were to be feared in the coming days.

Another tremor, of magnitude 5.2 according to the USGS, was detected in the morning in the province of Xinjiang which borders Gansu to the west.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for “make every effort” in search and rescue operations and to ensure the safety of survivors and their property.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, an ally of Beijing, presented his “deep” condolences to Mr. Xi.

Freezing temperatures

The strong Gansu earthquake also caused significant damage. Water and electricity supplies were disrupted in villages around the epicenter, with state media saying electricity was later partially restored.

Temperatures have dropped well below freezing in northern China. Footage from one of the worst-hit areas broadcast on CCTV showed residents warming themselves near a fire while emergency services set up tents.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from Gansu, according to authorities.

Thousands of firefighters and rescue workers were dispatched to the disaster area, according to state media which reported the sending of 2,500 tents, 20,000 coats and 5,000 folding beds to Gansu.

According to CCTV, the central government has already allocated 200 million yuan (26 million euros) for emergency aid.

China is regularly the scene of earthquakes, sometimes very deadly: in 2008, a huge tremor in the province of Sichuan left more than 87,000 people dead or missing, including 5,335 schoolchildren.

In August, a 5.4 magnitude earthquake in the east injured 23 people and destroyed dozens of buildings.

In September 2022, a 6.6 magnitude earthquake in Sichuan province caused the death of nearly 100 people. In 2010, a 6.9 earthquake in Qinghai left 3,000 dead and missing.