Enormous magnitude 6.1 earthquake devastates China leaving 96 people dead and almost 100 more injured
- The earthquake struck the Gansu-Qinghai border area at midnight on Tuesday
At least 96 people were killed and hundreds injured after an earthquake struck northwestern China on Tuesday, according to state media reports.
The earthquake struck Gansu province just before midnight local time, damaging buildings there and in neighboring Qinghai province.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) estimated the earthquake in the region at a magnitude of 6.1.
According to state media agency Xinhua, the country's central government dispatched teams of rescuers early Tuesday morning to help local teams.
In a statement to officials, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said “all efforts should be made to carry out search and rescue operations, treat the injured in a timely manner and minimize the number of casualties.”
The earthquake struck Gansu province around midnight local time, damaging buildings there and in neighboring Qinghai province
There are reports of damage to water and electricity lines, as well as transport and communications infrastructure.
China's National Commission for Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief and the Ministry of Emergency Management have activated a level IV emergency, Xinhua reported.
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 35 km (21.75 miles) and the epicenter was 102 km west-southwest of Lanzhou, China, EMSC said.
The earthquake was felt in Lanzhou, the provincial capital of Gansu, about 1,450 kilometers southwest of the capital Beijing.
China is located in a region where a number of tectonic plates – particularly the Eurasian, Indian and Pacific plates – meet, and is particularly prone to earthquakes.
Last September, at least 74 people were reportedly killed when a 6.8 magnitude earthquake shook China's southwestern Sichuan province, causing landslides and buildings in the provincial capital Chengdu.