Devastating Earthquake Claims Lives in Northwest China
Rescue efforts are underway in remote villages of northwest China as rescuers dig through the rubble of collapsed homes following China’s deadliest earthquake in years. The earthquake, measuring 5.9 in magnitude according to the US Geological Survey and reported as 6.2 by China’s state news agency Xinhua, struck just before midnight, resulting in at least 118 fatalities and hundreds of injuries.
Officials in the impoverished Gansu province reported that the shallow tremor caused the deaths of at least 105 people and injured almost 400 by Tuesday morning. Additionally, in the city of Haidong in neighbouring Qinghai province, 13 people lost their lives, 182 were injured, and 20 were reported missing, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The quake, the deadliest in China since 2014, damaged thousands of homes, particularly ramshackle brick structures, prompting residents to flee into the freezing streets for safety. Social media accounts associated with the state-run People’s Daily newspaper shared a video of a woman expressing the terror she experienced, stating, “I was almost scared to death. Look at how my hands and legs are shaking.”
Footage from CCTV revealed the aftermath of collapsed houses, with family possessions scattered among the debris. President Xi Jinping has called for “all-out efforts” in the search and rescue operations, emphasizing the need to be vigilant for secondary disasters given the freezing temperatures in the high-altitude area.
Nearly 5,000 homes in Gansu have been reported as damaged, with power and water supplies disrupted in villages around the epicentre. Emergency services, including over 1,400 firefighters and rescue personnel, are actively engaged in the disaster zone, and the central government has allocated 200 million yuan ($28 million) in relief funding.
While earthquakes are not uncommon in China, this recent tragedy underscores the vulnerability of the country’s western hinterland to seismic activity. The aftermath of this devastating event serves as a stark reminder of the 2008 quake in Sichuan province, which claimed over 87,000 lives, including thousands of schoolchildren. The international community is closely monitoring the situation, and rescue efforts are ongoing as the affected communities grapple with the impact of this natural disaster.
