A 6.2-magnitude earthquake jolted China's Gansu-Qinghai border in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. The earthquake claimed the lives of at least 111 people and left more than 230 people injured. Hours after the Gansu-Qinghai border was struck by this midnight horror, videos of the moment when the earthquake hit Gansu as well as those showing people running to save their lives went viral on X formerly known as Twitter.
"Video captured the moment when a 6.2-magnitude earthquake hits China," a social media user said on X while sharing the 38-second-long video.
Another video, which seems to be from a restaurant in the region, shows people running for their lives as soon as the midnight earthquake hit Linxia, a city in Gansu province. "6.2-magnitude earthquake Linxia in central China. Linxia is a city of 292,000 people basically on the western edge of the heavily populated portion of China earthquake," the user said on X while sharing the video.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered 'all-out' search and rescue efforts and proper arrangements for affected people to ensure the safety of their lives and property. He has instructed authorities to undertake full-scale search and rescue operations and proper resettlement of those affected, Global Times reported.
Social media users also shared videos of the ongoing rescue operations in Gansu and Qinghai on X. "China has upgraded the national earthquake emergency response to level 2 after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake jolted northwest China's Gansu and Qinghai late Monday evening," Caoli, Counsellor, Information Department, MFA, China, noted.
Another video showed teams of rescue workers being dispatched from Gansu and Qinghai to rescue people stuck in quake-hit regions in the two provinces.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Finance Ministry and Emergency Management Ministry have allocated 200 million yuan or $28 million in natural disaster relief funds to the earthquake-hit Gansu and Qinghai provinces, as per news agency Reuters.
Setting aside tensions between Taipei and Beijing, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen expressed condolences to China and offered her government's assistance in disaster relief effort. "We pray that all those affected receive the aid they need, and we hope for a swift recovery. Taiwan stands ready to offer assistance in the disaster response effort," she said in a statement on X.
Beijing sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that will soon be under its control. Taipei, on the other hand, sees itself as being distant from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically elected leaders.
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