At least 116 people were killed when an earthquake collapsed buildings in northwest China, state media reported Tuesday, as rescue workers raced to start digging through rubble in freezing conditions, Report informs via France24.

The quake brought homes crashing down and caused other significant damage, sending people running into the street for safety, state news agency Xinhua At least 105 were killed and almost 400 injured in Gansu province, local officials said, after the strong, shallow tremor struck around midnight.

According to state broadcaster CCTV, 11 others were killed and 100 injured in the city of Haidong in the neighbouring province of Qinghai.

The quake brought homes crashing down and caused other significant damage, sending people running into the street for safety, state news agency Xinhua said.

"I was almost scared to death. Look at how my hands and legs are shaking," said a woman of about 30 in a video posted to a social media account associated with the state-run People's Daily newspaper.

"As soon as I ran out of the house, the earth on the mountain gave way, thudding on the roof," she said as she sat swaddled in a blanket outside, cradling a baby.

Footage from CCTV showed family possessions visible among strewn masonry from a house that caved in during the quake.

Rescue work was under way early Tuesday, with Chinese President Xi Jinping calling for "all-out efforts" in the search and relief work.

Temperatures are below freezing in the high-altitude area, and rescuers should be on guard for secondary disasters, according to CCTV.

The quake, which was logged as magnitude 5.9 by the US Geological Survey, struck in Gansu near the border with Qinghai, where Haidong is located.

That epicentre is about 100 kilometres southwest of Gansu province's capital, Lanzhou.

Xinhua reported the quake -- which was felt in the major city of Xi'an in northern Shaanxi province, about 570 kilometres away -- as being magnitude 6.2.

Several smaller aftershocks followed the initial earthquake, and officials warned that tremors with a magnitude of more than 5.0 were possible in the next few days.

A quake measured at magnitude 5.2 by USGS was detected further northwest in Xinjiang province on Monday morning.