Death toll from most 'severe' earthquake to hit China in 10 years has risen to 151

Official Chinese media reported that the number of casualties from the earthquake that struck the provinces of Qinghai and Gansu in the northwest of the country nearly two weeks ago has risen to 151 after the discovery of the last two bodies of two individuals who were among the missing. 

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.2, raised concerns about the safety of buildings in seismic-prone areas. This earthquake is described as the most severe in about a decade. 

The last two bodies were found in the early hours of Sunday local time. 

The earthquake's epicenter was in the border region between the two provinces, marking the most severe since a 6.5-magnitude earthquake in Yunnan province in southwest China in 2014, which resulted in the death of 617 people. 

The recent tragedy has renewed concerns about the safety of poorly constructed homes in the two provinces inhabited by the Hui ethnic group, a Chinese Muslim minority. 

In less than two weeks, local authorities have built thousands of one-story houses to help affected families transition from tents with the intensification of winter cold. The earthquake has displaced 145,000 people and destroyed more than two hundred thousand homes. 

Reuters