A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck China's mountainous province of Gansu also trembling neighbouring Qinghai, and killing 127 people around Monday midnight.
With over 700 injuries in cold weather reported, the number of fatalities could increase, reported BBC.
Thousands of rescue workers have been summoned to the region, which is among China's poorest and most diverse, by President Xi Jinping.
Tuesday's imagery on state TV and other media platforms featured houses and entire villages ripped apart by the earthquake in addition to crumbling structures.
There were also images of displaced homeowners gathering around improvised fires in hurriedly constructed evacuation centres. On Tuesday, the temperature dropped to -13C (8.7F), according to Chinese media.
The survivors described running out of their apartments during the tremors, describing it as like "being tossed by surging waves".
"I woke my family up and we rushed down all 16 floors in one breath," said one man named Qin by Chinese outlets.
In Gansu province's hardest-hit county, Jishishan, local officials said that over 5,000 buildings had sustained damage.
A director of the Gansu rescue team was described by Chinese media as attributing the extensive damage to the communities' subpar construction, with many of the homes being old and constructed of clay.
Gansu borders Mongolia and is situated between the Tibetan and Loess plateaus. This isolated area is among the poorest and most ethnically diverse in all of China.
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