Uphill task to save quake victims

Completely gone: A man inspecting a damaged building after an earthquake at Dahejia in Jishishan County in northwest Gansu province. — AFP

BEIJING: Braving sub-zero conditions, thousands of rescuers faced an uphill task finding and treating survivors of a strong earthquake that rocked a remote area in China’s northwestern Gansu province more than a day ago.

The magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted Jishishan county near the border straddling Gansu and Qinghai provinces a minute before midnight on Monday, sending frightened residents out of homes into the cold in the dead of the night.