Multiple deaths and injuries as strong earthquakes rattle western China

A strong magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the western China province of Gansu early on Monday morning, killing at least 89 people and injuring hundreds.

According to the China Earthquake Administration, the initial quake struck at 7:45 a.m. Monday, local time, roughly 13 km east of the village of Chabu, and 177 km south of Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province.

The Hong Kong news source The Standard stated that the local government reported that it was a very shallow quake, at a depth of 6 km, however the CEA said that it was focused 20 km down. Shallow quakes tend to be the most destructive. The South China Morning Post, reported that there have been 411 aftershocks since, and both the CEA and U.S. Geological Survey recorded the strongest of those aftershocks at magnitude 5.6.

According to the the official Xinhua news agency, 89 people were killed in the quakes and resulting landslides, with over 500 injured and 60 in serious condition. 5 people are still reported missing.

Eight towns in the mostly-rural region have suffered major damage, and there are power outages reported throughout the area and communications have been lost to 13 communities. Xinhua reported that Chang Zhengguo, a spokesman for the provincial government, said that initial investigations showed the quake had caused more than 1,200 homes to collapse and it severely damaged another 21,000 homes.

Chu Xiaoyi, a 20-year-old resident of Yongguang, barely escaped with his family, when a landslide touched off by the quake buried 12 homes in the village.

"We were sleeping when it happened, so we ran out almost naked," he said, according to Xinhua. "Now we have nothing left and even our clothes are borrowed from neighbors."

According to a South China Morning Post update, the official Xinhua news agency said that more than 2,000 soldiers, 300 police, 50 medical staff and two helicopters had been sent to the area. Rescuers continue to work, but with heavy rain in the forecast for the area, there are concerns about how this will affect rescue efforts.

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The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the initial quake as magnitude 5.9 and at a depth of about 10 km. It's not unusual for initial reports to differ, as different equipment can based on the equipment recording the quake.

The quake was reportedly felt as far away as the city of Xi'an, in neighbouring Shaanxi Province, over 400 kms to the east. This region of China is prone to earthquakes. Back in April, a magnitude 7.0 quake struck the province of Sichuan, to the south, resulting in over 150 deaths and thousands of injuries. The strongest quake ever to strike the area was 359 years ago, almost to the day, when an estimated magnitude 8.0 quake hit on July 21st, 1654.

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