At least 116 people have been killed by two earthquakes in northwest China and hundreds have been injured, Chinese state media report. The death toll is expected to rise. It is unclear how many people are still missing.
According to Chinese authorities, the quake had a magnitude of 6.2 and occurred in the mountainous border area of the Qinhai and Gansu provinces, at a depth of 10 kilometers. The epicenter was about 100 kilometers from the city of Lanzhou in the northwestern province of Gansu. Later, another earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 was measured in nearby Xinjiang. Thousands of houses have been damaged or collapsed, roads are blocked. Some places are without electricity and water. It is very cold in the region, with temperatures of -10 degrees.
Earthquakes are more common in China’s western provinces, which lie on the eastern border of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, a tectonically active area. It is one of the poorest regions in the country.
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