A devastating earthquake in northwest China resulted in the loss of at least 116 lives, according to state media reports on Tuesday.
The catastrophe, which struck around midnight, claimed 116 lives and left nearly 400 injured in Gansu province, local officials confirmed.
Additionally, 11 people lost their lives while 100 were injured in Haidong, a city in the neighboring province of Qinghai, as reported by state broadcaster CCTV.
The shallow, powerful tremor caused widespread destruction, toppling buildings and prompting terrified residents to flee to the streets for safety, detailed the state news agency Xinhua.
Heart-wrenching accounts emerged, with a woman, visibly shaken, sharing her fear and near-death experience through a video posted on a social media account linked with the state-run People’s Daily newspaper.
“I was almost scared to death. Look at how my hands and legs are shaking,” expressed a woman in her thirties, wrapped in a blanket and holding a baby.
She recounted the terrifying moment when the earth gave way as she ran outside, causing a mountain of debris to crash onto a nearby roof.
Distressing footage from CCTV captured the aftermath, displaying household belongings strewn amidst collapsed structures.
In response to the disaster, rescue efforts commenced immediately, with Chinese President Xi Jinping urging exhaustive measures in search and relief operations.
President Xi also emphasized vigilance against secondary disasters in the sub-zero temperatures prevalent in the high-altitude region, as reported by CCTV.
The quake, recorded as a magnitude 5.9 by the US Geological Survey, struck near the Gansu-Qinghai border, approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province.
However, Xinhua reported the quake as a magnitude 6.2 and noted its impact being felt as far as Xi’an, some 570 kilometers (350 miles) away in northern Shaanxi province.
Multiple smaller aftershocks followed the initial earthquake, with authorities cautioning the likelihood of tremors exceeding a magnitude of 5.0 in the coming days.
In a separate event, a 5.2 magnitude quake was recorded by USGS in Xinjiang province on Monday morning.