More than 116 people killed in earthquake in northwest China

More than 100 people have been killed and many more injured after an earthquake hit northwestern China while many people were asleep.

The earthquake, measured at 6.2 according to state news agency Xinhua, struck at about midnight in Gansu Province near the border with Qinghai, causing significant damage, state media reported on Tuesday.

 Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered that every effort be made to search and rescue people, as well as eliminate the consequences of the earthquake in Gansu, the TV channel reported.

Earlier China Central Television reported at least 97 people were killed and 236 injured in the Chinese provinces of Gansu and Qinghai as a result of the earthquak. In northwestern Gansu, 86 people were killed and 96 injured; in Qinghai province, west of Gansu, 11 people were killed and 140 injured.