At Least 75 Dead in China Earthquakes

Gansu province

An earthquake rocked a rural, semi-arid area of northwestern China's Gansu Province on Monday, killing at least 75 people and injuring hundreds more.

The first and strongest of a series of tremors struck at 7:45 am Beijing time south of Dingxi city, about 766 miles west of Beijing, toppling farmers' one-story homes and severing power lines. More than 1,200 homes were destroyed and thousands more damaged, provincial government spokesman Chang Zhengguo was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.