At least 111 people have been killed after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck a mountainous region of northwestern China, the country’s state media has said.

The official Xinhua News Agency said that 100 people died in the province of Gansu and another 11 in the neighbouring province of Qinghai after the quake just before midnight local time on Monday.

More than 200 people have been injured – 96 in Gansu and 124 in Qinghai, the news agency added.

China’s state broadcaster CCTV reports that President Xi Jinping has called for an all-out search and rescue effort to minimise the number of casualties.

The quake struck in Gansu’s Jishishan county, about three miles from the provincial boundary with Qinghai.

The US Geological Survey has given the earthquake’s magnitude as 5.9.

CCTV reported that water and electricity lines, as well as transportation and communications infrastructure, have been damaged.

UK joins new global force to combat attacks in Red Sea as shipping industry fears delays

Volcano erupts in Iceland after thousands evacuated from town

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin ‘preparing for potential large-scale war with NATO’; Germany to send thousands of troops to Russian border

Shockwaves were felt in Lanzhou, the Gansu provincial capital, about 1,450 kilometers (900 miles) southwest of the capital of Beijing.

University students there rushed out of their dorms, according to a social media post that had images showing young people standing outside.

Tents, folding beds and quilts were being sent to the disaster area, CCTV said.

Read more:
UK joins global force to combat Red Sea attacks
Volcano erupts in Iceland after thousands evacuated

In September 2022 at least 74 people were reportedly killed in a 6.8 magnitude earthquake that shook China’s southwestern province of Sichuan, triggering landslides and shaking buildings in the provincial capital of Chengdu, where 21 million residents were under a COVID-19 lockdown.

China’s deadliest earthquake in recent years was a 7.9 magnitude quake in 2008 that killed nearly 90,000 people in Sichuan.

It devastated towns, schools and rural communities outside Chengdu, leading to a years-long effort to rebuild with more resistant materials.

Related posts:

‘I’m on the move!’: NASA’s Perseverance rover takes its first test drive on Mars Pope Francis arrives at home of senior Iraqi Shi’ite cleric All the latest as Turkey and Italy go head-to-head in Euro 2020 opener Six people dead in South Africa as riots over jailing of former president Jacob Zuma escalate Power restored in Lebanon after empty fuel stations caused total blackout in Beirut Chennai prepares for more rainfall as residents struggle to cope with flooding Migrant crisis on Belarus-Poland border has been frighteningly easy for Minsk to orchestrate Schools in southern India reopen after students banned from wearing hijabs and religious clothing G7 leaders show united front against Russia as Johnson jokes about group being ‘tougher’ than Putin Zelenskyy praises Kherson’s resilience but warns Russian soldiers: ‘There’s no point in hiding – we’ll find you’ Seeds from Hiroshima ‘survivor tree’ growing in Scotland as part of peace project Palestinian PM breaks down in tears during cabinet meeting