Death toll goes up to 149 in China's earthquake

The death toll from the 6.2-magnitude earthquake that jolted northwest China earlier this week has risen to 149 with two people still missing.

The quake, the worst in nine years in the region, struck midnight on December 18 at a depth of 10 kilometres.

The Quake hit Jishishan County, Gansu Province, and Minhe County in the neighbouring Qinghai Province last Saturday causing heavy death and destruction.

The death toll in Qinghai Province has risen to 32 while two people are still missing, the Qinghai Emergency Management Department said on Monday. Search for the two missing people was continuing, the department said.

The death toll in Gansu Province stood at 117 and 781 people in injured. About 200 people were injured in the Qinghai quake.

Chinese Premier, Li Qing visited the quake-hit areas on Saturday and asked the rescue and relief teams to make sure that people live through the winter safely.

So far, about 500 individuals have been discharged from the hospital after receiving treatment, while 282 people remain under treatment. Among them, 17 are in critical condition and 69 are severely injured, according to official media reports.

China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) has allocated disaster-relief materials to Gansu and Qinghai which included 1,335 pieces of cold prevention materials and communication equipment, state-run Xinhua reported.

Primary and secondary schools in Jishishan County, northwest China's Gansu Province resumed classes on Monday, state-run CGTN TV reported.

The quake was China's deadliest since an earthquake killed 617 people in Yunnan province in 2014.