In a devastating turn of events, remote villages in northwest China find themselves grappling with the aftermath of the country’s deadliest earthquake in years. On Tuesday, rescuers tirelessly sifted through the debris of collapsed homes following the seismic disaster that has claimed at least 118 lives and left hundreds injured.
Officials in impoverished Gansu province revealed that the shallow tremor, occurring just before midnight, led to the deaths of at least 105 people, with almost 400 reported injured by Tuesday morning. Additional casualties were reported in the city of Haidong in the neighboring Qinghai province, where 13 lost their lives, 182 sustained injuries, and 20 were still missing, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The earthquake, measuring magnitude-5.9 according to the US Geological Survey, struck with a shallow depth at 11:59 pm local time on Monday, approximately 100 kilometers from Gansu’s provincial capital, Lanzhou. However, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported the magnitude as 6.2, noting that the shaking was felt as far away as Xi’an, about 570 kilometers away.
The calamity damaged thousands of homes, particularly those constructed with ramshackle brick structures, forcing terrified residents into the freezing streets for safety. Heart-wrenching accounts surfaced, with a woman in her thirties sharing her harrowing experience in a video posted on a social media account associated with the state-run People’s Daily newspaper.
“I was almost scared to death. Look at how my hands and legs are shaking,” she said, bundled in a blanket outside while cradling a baby. “As soon as I ran out of the house, the earth on the mountain gave way, thudding on the roof.”
The disaster marks China’s deadliest earthquake since 2014 when over 600 people lost their lives in southwestern Yunnan province. The nation’s western hinterland, prone to frequent seismic activity, still bears the scars of the massive quake in Sichuan province in 2008, which claimed over 87,000 lives, including 5,335 schoolchildren.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for “all-out efforts” as search and rescue operations are underway in the freezing, high-altitude region. As nearly 5,000 homes in Gansu were reported damaged, temperatures below freezing have raised concerns about potential secondary disasters.
Emergency services, including more than 1,400 firefighters and rescue personnel, have been mobilized to the disaster zone, with additional supplies such as drinking water, blankets, stoves, and instant noodles being dispatched. The central government has pledged initial relief funding of 200 million yuan ($28 million) to mitigate the impact of losses from the disaster.
As the affected regions grapple with the aftermath, the collective efforts of rescue teams and relief measures aim to bring solace to those affected by this tragic natural disaster.
