A week after China’s deadliest earthquake in nearly a decade struck a remote, impoverished northwest region of the Asian country, the death toll has risen to 149, with two more residents still missing, according to state officials. media.

The quake hit Gansu and Qinghai provinces, home to many members of the predominantly Muslim Hui ethnic minority.

The first province was hardest hit: more than 200,000 homes were destroyed and another 15,000 are under threat in Gansu, according to Chinese state media reports. The quake displaced 145,000 residents, killed at least 117 people and injured 781 others, according to the latest figures from authorities as of December 22.

In Qinghai, which neighbors Gansu to the west, 32 people were killed and two others were missing as of 23:00 (local time; 15:00 Greece time) yesterday Sunday, according to Chinese media.

Authorities attribute the extent of the earthquake’s damage to its shallow focal depth. However, it also played a role that many houses in the area had been built in the past, were made of wood and brick, or wood and earth, and were therefore not earthquake-proof.

The tragedy underscored the need to strengthen earthquake protection in the two provinces, local authorities added.

It is the deadliest earthquake in the Asian country since the one in Yunnan province (southwest) in 2014, when authorities counted more than 600 dead.

Strong and destructive earthquakes are quite common in China.

In August, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake in eastern China injured 23 people and destroyed dozens of buildings.

In September 2022, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan province killed at least a hundred people.

While a terrifying earthquake of 7.9 degrees in 2008 had left behind more than 87,000 dead or missing, among them 5,335 schoolboys and girls.