Death toll rises to 144 after earthquake in northwest China

O The Qinghai government said in recent hours that the death toll in the province rose from 22 in the previous count to 33, and that the number of injured remained at 198, the official Xinhua news agency reported today.

The official number of people in Gansu who lost their lives as a result of the 6.2 magnitude earthquake, which occurred one minute before midnight local time on Monday (15:59, in Lisbon) on the border between the two provinces, remains at 113, unchanged from Wednesday.

On Thursday, authorities in Gansu, who did not report anyone missing, said at a press conference that 784 injured people were receiving medical care in the province’s hospitals, after having assured the previous day that rescue work for the Survivors “is pretty much finished.”

Rescue teams have been facing a cold spell in recent days, with temperatures that can reach minus 14 degrees, an obstacle made worse by the difficulties in accessing the rugged and mountainous terrain.

In response to the disaster, authorities sent material including 2,600 tents, 10,400 folding beds, 10,400 quilts and 1,000 stoves.

Local bodies reported a “serious shortage” of tents to house the displaced.

The earthquake damaged or caused the collapse of more than 155,000 homes and affected water, electricity, telecommunications and transport services.

The Chinese government and Ministry of Emergency Management declared a level II disaster response, the second highest level, and 200 million yuan (about 25 million euros) was allocated for relief and recovery efforts.

This was the deadliest earthquake in China since the August 2014 earthquake in Yunnan province, which killed 617 people, but is a far cry from the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province, which caused at least 70,000 deaths.

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