NW China earthquake leaves 131 dead

JISHISHAN, Gansu Province, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The number of injured people from the 6.2-magnitude earthquake in northwest China's Gansu Province has risen to 782 in Gansu, with the death toll standing at 113 as of 9 a.m. on Wednesday, according to a press conference on Wednesday morning.

The earthquake has taken the lives of 18 people in Qinghai Province, local authorities said on Wednesday morning.

As of 5:30 a.m., there have been 198 reported injuries in Qinghai due to the disaster, with 16 others still missing.

According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, the quake jolted at 11:59 p.m. Monday and has a focal depth of 10 km. The epicenter Liugou Township is about 8 km from the county seat of the Bonan-Dongxiang-Salar Autonomous County of Jishishan in Gansu Province.