At least 111 people were killed when a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck an ethnic county in northwest China's Gansu and neighbouring Qinghai province on midnight Monday, the local earthquake relief headquarters said. According to the China Earthquake Networks Centre, the shallow quake jolted the region at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, with a focal depth of 10 kilometres.

Experts say shallow quakes cause heavy damage to infrastructure. The epicentre of the earthquake Liugou township is about 8 kilometres from the county seat of Jishishan Bao'an, Dongxiang, Sala autonomous county in Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture in Gansu. Qinghai province is adjacent to the Tibet Himalayan region which is prone to frequent earthquakes due to shifting of continental plates.