Update: Earthquake in northwestern China kills at least 127 people; deadliest in nine years

People walk past a collapsed building after an earthquake in Dahejia, Jishishan County in northwest China’s Gansu province on Tuesday, December 19, 2023. - AFP

BEIJING (AP): A strong overnight earthquake rattled a mountainous region of northwestern China, authorities said Tuesday, destroying homes, leaving residents out in a below-freezing winter night and killing 127 people in the nation’s deadliest quake in nine years.

The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck just before midnight on Monday, injuring more than 700 people, damaging roads and knocking out power and communication lines in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, officials and Chinese media reports said.