Shavkat Mirziyoyev sent condolences to the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping in connection with the numerous casualties and injuries caused by the earthquake in the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai.

Mirziyoyev asked to convey words of sympathy and support to the families and friends of the victims and wished recovery to the injured.

According to the China Seismological Networks Center, an earthquake of magnitude 6.2 on December 18 at 23:59 Beijing time killed at least 118 people. Roads were damaged and communication and power lines knocked out, leaving many to huddle in blankets around street fires in the bitter cold as temperatures plummeted to as low as -14C. Gansu province was the worst affected, suffering the majority of deaths. More than 4,700 houses had been damaged. The number of missing people in the aftermath is as yet unknown.