DEHEJIA : More than a dozen people were still missing on Thursday after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck north-western Gansu province late Monday, leaving netizens wondering about the speed with which rescue efforts were completed.

Search and rescue operations in Gansu came to an end on Tuesday at 3pm (0700 GMT). This was approximately 15 hours after the tragedy struck a remote and mountainous area close to the border separating the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. It was not immediately apparent whether the hunt in Qinghai was ongoing.

As of Wednesday morning, 784 individuals have been reported injured and 115 confirmed dead, according to the authorities; reports of missing persons from Gansu are still waiting.

In neighbouring Qinghai, as of 8:56 p.m. on Wednesday, there were 22 confirmed dead, 198 injured, and 12 people listed as missing.

Over 145,000 people in Gansu were affected by the fall of over 15,000 homes and the demolition of nearly 207,000 homes.

Many expressed concerns about the speed at which rescue operations were proceeding, stating that the below-freezing weather had limited the standard 72-hour window for finding survivors during the “golden period” of discovery.

Local media stated, citing researchers, that those buried beneath rubble subjected to extended temperatures of -10° Celsius (14°F) run the danger of fast hypothermia and may only be able to live for five to ten hours even if unharmed.

“Even a day is too long; by the time they were discovered, they would have passed away. It’s below – 10 C outside,” a user said on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo.

Just before midnight on Monday, rescuers removed the safety victims from the scene, shocking Jishishan County in Gansu and forcing many locals to leave their homes into the freezing night. With no permanent refuge and the temperatures still below freezing, survivors continue to face uncertainty.

Hui people, an ethnic minority mostly located in western Chinese provinces and areas like Gansu, Ningxia, and Shaanxi, make up a large number of the afflicted households.

“Many people fled their houses; others went out barefoot and without socks. Standing on the ground, it’s rather chilly,” Zhou Habai, an ethnic Hui lady, said.

Hui people, an ethnic minority mostly located in western Chinese provinces and areas like Gansu, Ningxia, and Shaanxi, make up a large number of the afflicted households.

“Many people fled their houses; others went out barefoot and without socks. Standing on the ground, it’s rather chilly,” Zhou Habai, an ethnic Hui lady, said.

In addition to damaging roads, electricity and water lines, and agricultural production facilities, the earthquake caused mudslides and landslides that rushed through the Haidong (or “Haidong” in Qinghai) villages, where reports of missing people came from.

For all the latest news from Oman and GCC, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page, which is updated daily.