At least 47 people were killed and nearly 300 others injured when a strong earthquake struck in western China early on Monday, the local government said.
The quake hit near the city of Dingxi in Gansu province, a region of mountains, desert and pastureland. Residents described shaking windows and swinging lights but little major damage and little panic.
Tremors were felt in the provincial capital of Lanzhou 110 miles (177km) north, and as far away as Xi’an, 250 miles (400km) to the east.
“You could see the chandeliers wobble and the windows vibrating and making noise, but there aren’t any cracks in the walls. Shop assistants all poured out on to the streets when the shaking began,” said a front desk clerk at the Wuyang Hotel in Zhang County about 25 miles (40km) from the epicentre.
With a population of 26 million, Gansu is one of China’s more lightly populated provinces.
The deaths and injuries were reported in Min County and other rural southern parts of the municipality, Dingxi Mayor Tang Xiaoming told state broadcaster CCTV. He said damage was worst in the counties of Zhang and Min, where scores of homes were damaged and telephone and electricity services knocked out.
The Chinese Red Cross said it was shipping 200 tents, 1,000 sets of household items, and 2,000 jackets to the area and sending teams from both Lanzhou and Beijing to help with relief work and assess further needs.