JISHISHAN, Gansu Province, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The 6.2-magnitude earthquake that jolted an ethnic county in northwest China's Gansu Province at midnight Monday has killed 113 people and injured 536 others in the province, local authorities said Tuesday.

The earthquake had damaged 155,393 houses in Gansu as of 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to the provincial earthquake relief headquarters.

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 Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu.

China has upgraded the national disaster-relief emergency response to Level II for the earthquake. Over 736 rescuers from central enterprises' projects in nearby areas, as well as 2,042 firefighters, have been sent to the quake-hit region, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

A total of 74 people have been rescued so far, while 4,298 were evacuated and property worth over 15.3 million yuan (about 2.16 million U.S. dollars) was saved, said the ministry.

More relief supplies are also on the way. The ministry said the third batch of relief goods, including 2,000 cotton tents, 5,000 rollaway beds, 5,000 overcoats, and 10,000 quilts, have been allocated to Gansu.

As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, a total of 133,500 relief items have been sent to Gansu and the neighboring Qinghai Province to support the basic needs of those affected by the earthquake. Enditem

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