Braving below-freezing conditions, rescuers pulled to safety victims of an earthquake that rocked a remote area in China's northwestern Gansu province more than a day ago, while survivors faced months of uncertainty ahead without permanent shelter.

The magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted Jishishan county near the border straddling Gansu and Qinghai provinces a minute before midnight on Monday, sending frightened residents out of homes into the cold in the dead of the night, damaging roads, power and water lines as well as agricultural production facilities, and triggering land and mudslides.

In Gansu, 113 people had been found dead as of 9 a.m. on Wednesday, and 782 were injured, authorities said. The death toll in neighboring Qinghai province rose to 18 with 198 injured as of 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday.