A devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 struck north-west China, particularly affecting Gansu province and Qinghai, resulting in the death of at least 127 people.
The tragic incident occurred around midnight on Monday, with over 700 reported injuries compounded by harsh icy conditions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has mobilized thousands of rescue personnel to the impoverished and culturally diverse region.
This earthquake marks China’s deadliest since 2014, when a quake in Yunnan province claimed the lives of over 600 people. State TV and social media have shown footage depicting entire villages split by the quake, along with numerous collapsed buildings and houses. As residents fled their homes, makeshift evacuation camps were set up, with survivors enduring frigid temperatures as low as -13C (8.7F).
“I woke my family up and we rushed down all 16 floors in one breath,” Mr. Qin by Chinese outlets.
“It is too cold to bear… it’s -15C [here],” Wang Yi, chief commander of the Blue-Sky Rescue Team. “We now need to dig deeper [into the rubble]. But there are no big buildings in the area. So it will rise, but it won’t be much,” he said.