The quake was measured at a magnitude of 5.9 and mainly affected areas in the Gansu region and nearby Qinghai.
The earthquake occurred one minute before midnight local time, at 5 pm Swedish time. According to Chinese rescue forces, the material damage was extensive.
The quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers and around ten kilometers southwest of the provincial capital Lanzhou, according to the US Geological Survey, USGS.
The provinces of Gansu and Qinghai are quite often affected by earthquakes. Authorities have improved and tightened, among other things, building standards as protection against earthquakes.
Gansu has been hit by very large earthquakes in the past, with official death tolls of 180,000 dead in an earthquake in 1920 and 70,000 dead in a 1932 quake.