Yesterday (Dec 18), there was a strong earthquake near China’s Gansu-Qinghai border. Chinese news reported that the quake occurred 102 km west-southwest of Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, at a depth of 35 km. The earthquake happened at midnight, 11:59 PM local time. It shook the buildings and many buildings collapsed.
As per the country’s report, 111 people lost their lives, and over 230 people got seriously injured because of falling building debris.
Actualización #sismo en Linxia Chengguanzhen, #China🇨🇳
— SkyAlert (@SkyAlertMx) December 19, 2023
🔸Se reportan más de 100 decesos.
🔸Hay decenas de colapsos de viviendas ubicadas en localidades aisladas cercanas próximas al epicentro.
🔸USGS ajustó magnitud de 6.0 a 5.9. Foco a solo 10 km de profundidad.
🔸Es posible… pic.twitter.com/gi7yybZQy6
Emergency rescue teams quickly went to the places affected by the earthquake to begin rescuing people. Reports say the rescue efforts were slowed down because of heavy snowfall in China. It measured 6.1 on the Richter scale, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Center.

Powerful earthquakes happen a lot in China. In August of last year, there was a strong earthquake in eastern China that measured 5.4 on the Richter scale. This earthquake caused injuries to 23 people. Back in the 1900s, there was a very strong earthquake in China that happened 200 km deep. It was one of the top 3 most powerful earthquakes in China with a magnitude greater than 6 on the Richter scale.
#ÚLTIMAHORA 🔵🔴 Sismo de Magnitud 5.9 en Linxia Chengguanzhen, #China, deja un saldo preliminar de 111 personas muertas y más de 200 heridas #SVNNoticias pic.twitter.com/Khi1PY7e72
— Sonora Visión Noticias (@SVNNoticias) December 19, 2023
China’s official news agency Xinhua reported that the earthquake’s center was 5 km from the border between the northwestern provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. It also stated that on Monday midnight alone, there were 9 continuous earthquakes with a magnitude of 3 on the Richter scale at various locations.