A hilly farming area in western China was hit by a strong earthquake on July 22, 2013, which killed at least 47 people and injured almost 300. The local government informed that the earthquake knocked down power lines and damaged many homes. The quake hit near the city of Dingxi in Gansu province, which is a region of mountains, desert and pastureland with a population of 26 million people.
Due to this, the area is lightly populated and mostly has farms and towns with a total population of around 2.7 million people. Most of the deaths and injuries have been reported in Min County and other rural southern parts of the municipality. Tang Xioming, Mayor of Dingxi said that damage was worst in the counties of Zhang and Min.
Many homes, telephone lines and electricity services have been damaged. Residents who witnessed the natural calamity said that widows were shaking and lights were swinging. Shaking was also felt in the provincial capital of Lanzhou, which is 177 km north. The earthquake monitoring sector of the government said that the initial quake was felt at 7:45 am and had a magnitude of 6.6 and following tremors measured 5.6.
