6.2 earthquake kills more than 100 in China
HM sends condolences to President Xi Jinping
Published: 06:12 PM,Dec 19,2023 | EDITED : 10:12 PM,Dec 19,2023
Rescue workers search a house for survivors after an earthquake in Kangdiao village, Dahejia, Jishishan County, on Tuesday. - AFP
MUSCAT/BEIJING: His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik has sent a cable of condolences to President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China, on victims of the earthquake which hit the northwestern province of Gansu. In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan expressed his heartfelt sympathies to the President, families of the victims and the Chinese people, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.
The Sultanate of Oman also expressed its sympathies with the People’s Republic of China’s government and people on the earthquake which hit the northwestern province of Gansu.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, the Sultanate of Oman expressed its heartfelt condolences to families of the victims, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.
A magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted a remote and mountainous region on the northern edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau just before midnight on Monday, killing at least 118 people and injuring hundreds, according to Chinese state media.
Authorities have swiftly mobilised an array of emergency responses after the quake wrecked roads and infrastructure, triggered landslides, and half buried a village in silt. But rescue work has proved challenging in subzero temperatures, with most of China grappling with below-freezing conditions after a powerful cold wave swept across the country.
Earthquakes are common in western provinces such as Gansu, lying on the eastern boundary of the tectonically active Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. China's deadliest quake in recent decades was in 2008 when a magnitude-8.0 temblor struck Sichuan, killing nearly 70,000 people.
At 11:59 pm local time (15:59 GMT) on Monday, the latest quake struck Jishishan county in Gansu at a depth of 10 km, according to China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).
The epicentre was 5 km from the border between Gansu and a neighbouring province, Qinghai, where strong tremors were also felt. In Gansu, 105 were killed as of 7:50 am on Tuesday (23:50 GMT on Monday), and of 397 injured as of 9:30 am, 16 were in critical condition, provincial authorities told a news conference.
The death tally in Qinghai rose to at least 13 with 182 injured. Officially, 20 people remained missing.
About 2,200 personnel from the Gansu provincial fire department and 900 from the forest brigade, as well as 260 professional emergency rescue workers, were dispatched to the disaster zone, the Xinhua news agency reported, adding that hundreds from the military and police were also deployed.
The province, which has allocated 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) to the local government for emergency response work, also sent supplies that included 2,600 cotton tents, 10,400 folding beds, 10,400 quilts, 10,400 cotton mattresses, and 1,000 sets of stoves. County officials from Jishishan, with a population of about 260,000 people, told local media that the local government, lacking resources, had to rely on the provincial government.
As the disaster area is in a high-altitude region where the weather is cold, rescue efforts are working to prevent secondary disasters caused by factors beyond the quake, Xinhua said.
The temperature in Linxia, Gansu, near where the quake occurred, was about minus 14 degrees Celsius on Tuesday morning. Although the 72 hours after a quake are the most likely time to rescue survivors, that will be shortened by the harsh weather, with trapped victims facing higher risk, it said. SEE ALSO P
The Sultanate of Oman also expressed its sympathies with the People’s Republic of China’s government and people on the earthquake which hit the northwestern province of Gansu.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, the Sultanate of Oman expressed its heartfelt condolences to families of the victims, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.
A magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted a remote and mountainous region on the northern edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau just before midnight on Monday, killing at least 118 people and injuring hundreds, according to Chinese state media.
Authorities have swiftly mobilised an array of emergency responses after the quake wrecked roads and infrastructure, triggered landslides, and half buried a village in silt. But rescue work has proved challenging in subzero temperatures, with most of China grappling with below-freezing conditions after a powerful cold wave swept across the country.
Earthquakes are common in western provinces such as Gansu, lying on the eastern boundary of the tectonically active Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. China's deadliest quake in recent decades was in 2008 when a magnitude-8.0 temblor struck Sichuan, killing nearly 70,000 people.
At 11:59 pm local time (15:59 GMT) on Monday, the latest quake struck Jishishan county in Gansu at a depth of 10 km, according to China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).
The epicentre was 5 km from the border between Gansu and a neighbouring province, Qinghai, where strong tremors were also felt. In Gansu, 105 were killed as of 7:50 am on Tuesday (23:50 GMT on Monday), and of 397 injured as of 9:30 am, 16 were in critical condition, provincial authorities told a news conference.
The death tally in Qinghai rose to at least 13 with 182 injured. Officially, 20 people remained missing.
About 2,200 personnel from the Gansu provincial fire department and 900 from the forest brigade, as well as 260 professional emergency rescue workers, were dispatched to the disaster zone, the Xinhua news agency reported, adding that hundreds from the military and police were also deployed.
The province, which has allocated 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) to the local government for emergency response work, also sent supplies that included 2,600 cotton tents, 10,400 folding beds, 10,400 quilts, 10,400 cotton mattresses, and 1,000 sets of stoves. County officials from Jishishan, with a population of about 260,000 people, told local media that the local government, lacking resources, had to rely on the provincial government.
As the disaster area is in a high-altitude region where the weather is cold, rescue efforts are working to prevent secondary disasters caused by factors beyond the quake, Xinhua said.
The temperature in Linxia, Gansu, near where the quake occurred, was about minus 14 degrees Celsius on Tuesday morning. Although the 72 hours after a quake are the most likely time to rescue survivors, that will be shortened by the harsh weather, with trapped victims facing higher risk, it said. SEE ALSO P