116 dead and 400 others injured as massive earthquake hits China (Photos)

No fewer than 116 people were reportedly killed and almost 400 others injured following a massive earthquake that hit northwest China.

The earthquake happened in Gansu province around midnight on Monday, December 17, 2023. It caused damage to buildings in Gamsu and the neighbouring province of Qinghai.

According to Chinese authorities, the earthquake had 6.2 magnitude. A second quake with 5.5 magnitude struck neighbouring Xinjiang hours later on Tuesday but the level of damage is unclear.

China’s western hinterland carries the scars of frequent seismic activity, and a huge quake in Sichuan province in 2008 left more than 87,000 people dead or missing, including 5,335 schoolchildren.

The US Geological Survey said Monday night’s magnitude-5.9 quake struck at a shallow depth at 11:59 pm local time (1559 GMT) with an epicentre around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Gansu’s provincial capital, Lanzhou.

China’s state news agency Xinhua reported the magnitude as 6.2 and said the shaking was felt as far away as the major city of Xi’an, about 570 kilometres (350 miles) away.

Dozens of smaller aftershocks followed, and officials warned that tremors with a magnitude of more than 5.0 were possible in the next few days.

A quake measured at magnitude 5.2 by USGS was detected further northwest in the Xinjiang region on Tuesday morning.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “all-out efforts” as search and rescue work got under way early Tuesday.

Thousands of rescuers are already braving freezing conditions to try and help people who are trapped.

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