How tragedy and resilience unfolded as midnight struck

Residents, rescuers and survivors tell of dealing with the Gansu earthquake

Monday night is already indelibly chiseled in the memory of 57-year-old Ma Maidong. After experiencing a 6.2 magnitude earthquake, he and his family, dressed in light clothing, waited to be rescued in an open field with temperatures dropping below-10 C.

A minute before midnight, an unexpected earthquake rattled Jishishan county in Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture in Northwest China's Gansu province. By 9 am on Wednesday, the earthquake had caused 113 deaths and 782 injuries, according to the Gansu provincial earthquake relief headquarters. In nearby Qinghai province, 21 were dead and 198 injured, with 13 missing.

Ma, a resident of Yangwa village in Liuji township, one of the severely affected areas, has a family of nine. Fortunately, that night only he, his wife and his grandson were staying in the family residence. His two sons and their wives were working in other areas, while Ma's two other grandchildren were at a boarding school in the county.

Realizing the imminent danger, Ma hastily woke his wife and grandson and guided them to an open area outside the courtyard of their home seconds before the residence crumbled.

The outside temperature had plummeted and Ma saw many of his neighbors, similarly dressed in minimal clothing, anxiously watching events unfold as they stood in the open field. Eventually, they lit a fire to keep warm.

"We were so afraid, and it was extremely cold. The mixed feelings puzzled me," he said.

The village roads to the outside world were blocked by mudslides and rocks. Ma regained his composure and called relatives in the county and arranged for them to pick up his two grandchildren at the boarding school.