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Earthquake in Northwestern China Kills At Least 111 People in Gansu, Qinghai
Provinces

by Associated Press

   beijing --

   At least 111 people were killed in a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in
   northwestern China, the country's state media reported Tuesday.

   The official Xinhua News Agency said that 100 people died in the
   province of Gansu and another nine in the neighboring province of
   Qinghai in the quake, which occurred just before midnight Monday.

   More than 200 people were injured, Xinhua said, 96 in Gansu and 124 in
   Qinghai. The quake struck in Gansu's Jishishan county, about 5
   kilometers (3 miles) from the provincial boundary with Qinghai.

   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.

   The earthquake was felt in Lanzhou, the Gansu provincial capital, about
   1,450 kilometers (900 miles) southwest of the capital of Beijing.

   University students in Lanzhou rushed out of their dorms, according to
   a social media post that had images showing young people standing
   outside.

   Tents, folding beds and quilts were being sent to the disaster area,
   CCTV said. It quoted Chinese leader Xi Jinping as calling for an
   all-out search and rescue effort to minimize the casualties.

   Last year in September, at least 74 people were reported killed in a
   6.8 magnitude earthquake that shook China's southwestern province of
   Sichuan, triggering landslides and shaking buildings in the provincial
   capital of Chengdu, where 21 million residents were under a COVID-19
   lockdown.

   China's deadliest earthquake in recent years was a 7.9 magnitude quake
   in 2008 that killed nearly 90,000 people in Sichuan. The temblor
   devastated towns, schools and rural communities outside Chengdu,
   leading to a years-long effort to rebuild with more resistant
   materials.