At least 111 people were killed while 220 were injured following a 5.9 magnitude earthquake that hit north-west China on Monday night, according to state media. The tremor hit China's Gansu province at around midnight, causing damage to buildings in the region and neigbouring Qinghai province, according to a BBC report.
According to the US Geological Survey, the magnitude of the earthquake was measured 5.9 on the Richter scale at a depth of 10 kilometre. The Chinese authorities gave a slightly higher reading of 6.2 magnitude, reported CNN.
The quake prompted authorities to swing into action as emergency workers braved freezing temperatures dipping as low as minus 13 degrees Celsius to try and help people in this rural region of the country, one of China's poorer areas, the BBC report added.
Teams of rescue workers were dispatched by the government to assist local emergency crews. Around 2,220 rescue personnel from the provincial fire department and forest brigade as well as professional emergency rescue teams were sent to the affected area, according to Xinhua, adding that military and police personnel were also engaged in the rescue efforts.
Power and water supply also took a hit in the region due to the tremors.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered full rescue effort. In a statement, Xi said, "all efforts should be made to carry out search and rescue, treat the injured in a timely manner, and minimise casualties", according to BBC.
A level-IV disaster relief emergency has been activated by China's national commission for disaster prevention, reduction and relief and Ministry of Emergency Management, Xinhua report added.
The Gansu province sits between the Tibetan and Loess plateaus bordering Mongolia. The epicentre is located the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, an administrative region for China's Muslim Hui people, as per the BBC report. The province has earlier witnessed one of most deadliest earthquakes of 20th century in 1920 that had killed over 2,00,000 people.
China is prone to earthquakes as it is located in a region where a number of tectonic plates meet — notably the Eurasian, Indian and Pacific plates.