Image of earthquake relief in Gansu on China Central Television. (Photo: CCTV)

So far the earthquake has caused at least 100 deaths in Gansu province and 11 deaths in Qinghai province, and has damaged water, electricity, transportation, and communications infrastructure.

Chinese President Xi Jinping asked local authorities to rescue and treat the injured quickly to minimize casualties, and closely monitor the situation and weather to prevent secondary disasters. He urged allocation of relief supplies to the affected regions as soon as possible, repair of damaged infrastructure, and accommodation those left homeless.

1440 firefighters from the national rescue force and 1603 additional firefighters from Gansu and neighboring provinces have been mobilized and are on standby.

The China Seismic Network Center says the earthquake’s epicenter was in the southeastern region of Gansu province, at the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. This area has numerous fault zones. Within 200 km of the epicenter, there have been three earthquakes since 1900 with a magnitude greater than 6.