At least three people have died after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake rocked a mountainous and remote part of China’s far western Xinjiang region.

It’s shocking news that a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck a sparsely populated part of China’s western Xinjiang region early on Tuesday, injuring six people and damaging or collapsing more than 120 homes in freezing cold weather (“7.1-magnitude quake hits China’s Xinjiang,” Jan.23, Gulf Today website).

According to the report, the quake was the latest in a series of seismic events and natural disasters to hit the vast country’s western regions. The quake rocked Uchturpan county in Aksu prefecture shortly after 2am, the China Earthquake Networks Center said. Around 200 rescuers were dispatched to the epicentre. The county is called Wushi in the Mandarin language spoken by most Chinese.

China is facing a series of natural disasters, coping with heavy rain, landslides and powerful earthquakes in the country, in which a number of people have died and hundreds are injured.

In the latest powerful earthquake in China more than 45 houses collapsed, a number of houses were damaged and some agricultural structures collapsed. Hats off to the Chinese government which sent more than 200 rescue teams to help them.

The world should help China in its difficult time. Arrangements should be made to stop such disasters from recurring.

It’s now a challenging time for the Chinese government to play its vital role and help its people by providing them financial support to rebuild their damaged houses and make sure they will get health facilities.

Zaman Shah,

By email