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The rescue workers in China are faced with an enormous challenge in the wake of a magnitude-6.2 earthquake that hit a remote area in China’s northwestern Gansu province. With sub-zero conditions, the rescuers are finding and treating survivors. The temperature around the epicentre in Gansu fell to around minus 15 degrees Celsius yesterday as rescuers continued their work. As per information from local media, researchers indicate that individuals trapped beneath debris, enduring temperatures as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius without assistance, face the potential of hypothermia.
2/12
If unharmed, the survival window of trapped individual is estimated to be between five to ten hours. (AP)
3/12
In Qinghai, the death toll rose to 18 with 198 injured as of 5:30 am on Wednesday. (AP)
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The Gansu Provincial Seismological Bureau has stated that the likelihood of significant aftershocks with a magnitude of 5 remains possible in the vicinity over the next few days. (AP)
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Officials have said that the aftershocks will be closely tracked to issue early warnings. (AP)
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The quake damaged roads, power and communication lines, and triggered landslides in the affected areas. Many residents lost their homes and had to spend a cold winter night in tents or fields. (Reuters)
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The quake was felt in many parts of the region, including Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu, where students evacuated from a dormitory building.(Reuters)
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The quake-hit area in the Gansu-Qinghai border region is remote, mountainous, and home to several Muslim and Tibetan groups. It is geographically in the center of China, but culturally in the northwest. (Reuters)
9/12
About 4,000 emergency workers used rods to move debris and rescue survivors. Videos showed them working in the dark and snow. (Reuters)
10/12
Rescue workers searched for survivors in collapsed buildings and at least one landslide site. They also issued an appeal for more workers to join the operation. (AP)
11/12
Some residents of Jishishan county reported cracks in their walls, but no collapse. (AP)
12/12
Chinese leader Xi Jinping ordered an all-out rescue effort, and relief supplies such as tents, quilts, generators, and halal food were sent to the disaster area. (AP)