Beijing: At least 111 people were killed in a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in a cold and mountainous region in northwestern China, the country’s state media reported on Tuesday.
Search and rescue operations were underway in Gansu province and neighboring Qinghai province. The earthquake left more than 230 people injured, damaged houses and roads, and knocked out power and communication lines, according to the media reports.
State broadcaster CCTV said that 100 people died in the province of Gansu and another 11 in the neighboring province of Qinghai in the quake, which struck at a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles) just before midnight on Monday.
The quake struck in Gansu’s Jishishan county, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the provincial boundary with Qinghai. The epicenter was about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) southwest of Beijing, the Chinese capital.
At least 140 people were injured in Qinghai and another 96 in Gansu, according to CCTV and the official Xinhua News Agency.
The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake’s magnitude at 5.9.State broadcaster CCTV reported that there was damage to water and electricity lines, as well as transportation and communications infrastructure.
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