(Yicai) Dec. 19 -- Rescue teams that have rushed to the site of a magnitude 6. 2 earthquake which rocked China’s northwestern Gansu province last night and has already claimed the lives of 118 people are battling extremely low temperatures and it is hindering their work, according to the country’s largest non-governmental humanitarian organization.

Blue Sky Rescue has 31 rescuers en route to the epicenter in mountainous Dahejia, Jishishan county, said Yan Wei, deputy director of Blue Sky Rescue’s Gansu center. It has also dispatched 10 vehicles loaded with rescue gear and medicines such as manual shearer cutters, tool kits, ethanol and disinfectants.

Yan’s team did not reach Dahejia until 4 a.m. when temperatures were as low as minus 14 degrees. “We are under great pressure and the freezing weather is not helping. We are trying our best to overcome it,” he said.

“At present, we are building 100 tents as temporary shelters for those affected by the quake. And as the rescue work progresses, the number of tents is likely to keep increasing,” Yan said.

“There is no heating in these shelters and we need more specialized winter clothing that can keep people warm at minus 20 degrees,” an expert told Yicai.

Blue Sky Rescue has completed its first search and rescue mission and the second one is underway, said Yan. Those who were reported missing have been found, and those who are injured have been taken to medical centers.

The earthquake has destroyed around 40 percent of dwellings as many houses in this area are made of earth and brick and some are 100 years old, he added.

The country’s macro-economic planner immediately mobilized an emergency response, and supplies of tents, cotton quilts and warm clothing have been dispatched from nearby storage facilities and are arriving at the disaster zone, Li Chao, spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission, said today. Utility companies are already repairing damaged power lines.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor