One child has been confirmed dead while 30 other people were injured in an earthquake early Tuesday in northwest China's Gansu Province.

A child less than 10 years old succumbed to injuries suffered when the temblor hit. An elderly person who was also badly hurt is still in a critical condition.

About 97 percent of houses were damaged and 20 percent collapsed in the worst hit villages in Minxian County about 2,200 meters up in the mountains. The quake also rendered 25 kilometers of roads impassable, said Qi Xuefeng, a deputy county chief.

The earthquake, which measured 5.2 on the Richter scale, hit the area between Minxian, Lintan and Jone counties in Gansu yesterday morning. The epicenter was 34.7 degrees north latitude, 103.9 degrees east longitude, 150 kilometers south of Gansu's capital Lanzhou.

Minxian County has a population of 440,000, Lintan County 150,000, and Jone County 100,000.

According to the State Seismological Bureau in Beijing, a joint work team has been sent to the quake-hit area by the bureau and local seismological department to investigate the damage.

More than 10 homes were destroyed and many walls developed cracks, local government sources said.

Relief materials, including tents offered by local civil departments, have arrived at the disaster area.

Water and electric supplies are still working normally, sources said.

On top of the earthquake, however, victims will have to deal with increasingly colder weather.

According to the province's meteorological observatory, temperatures at the site yesterday dipped to -2 C. In addition, a cold air front will hit most of the province next Monday or Tuesday with the mercury plummeting by as much as 5 to 6 C, the observatory said.

On top of that, the State Seismological Bureau also warned that slight after-shocks might occur in the following days.

This is not the first earthquake in the province this year. Last month two quakes which registered 5.8 and 6.1 on the Richter scale rumbled through Minle and Shandan counties in Gansu, left nine people dead and more than 43 others injured.

(China Daily November 14, 2003)