The death toll from the earthquake in northwest China rose to 126: it was the deadliest in nine years

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An overnight earthquake in a cold, mountainous region of northwest China has killed at least 126 people and injured more than 700, making it the deadliest earthquake in the country in almost a decade, according to state media. The 6.2 magnitude earthquake occurred just before midnight on Monday, causing extensive damage to homes, roads, and infrastructure in the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai.

Emergency officials in Gansu province have called for 300 additional workers to aid in search and rescue efforts to find survivors trapped in collapsed buildings. Meanwhile, authorities in neighboring Qinghai reported 20 people missing in a landslide caused by the earthquake.

The quake, which occurred in Gansu’s Jishishan county, collapsed houses and caused other significant damage, prompting people to flee into the streets in search of safety. The United States Geological Survey estimated the magnitude of the earthquake at 5.9.

State broadcaster CCTV reported damage to water and electricity lines, as well as transportation and communications infrastructure. The quake was also felt in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, about 1,450 kilometers southwest of Beijing.

Images of rescue teams working in collapsed buildings have been circulated by the media, while college students in Lanzhou rushed out of their dormitories in search of safety.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for all possible search and rescue efforts to minimize the number of victims. Temperatures in the affected area have dropped to as low as -15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit).

Earthquakes are common in the mountainous area of western China, which forms the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Last year, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake in southwest China’s Sichuan province killed at least 74 people and triggered landslides.

The deadliest earthquake in recent decades in China was a magnitude 7.9 quake in 2008, which killed nearly 90,000 people in Sichuan and devastated cities, schools, and rural communities. The rebuilding effort that followed involved the use of stronger materials to prevent similar disasters in the future.