A 5.2-magnitude earthquake jolted China’s Xinjiang province today, damaging several houses but no casualties were reported so far.
The quake hit Atux City in Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture this morning. Six unoccupied houses were damaged and cracks appeared in the walls of 452 houses in Karajol Township, the epicentre of the quake.
Local authorities have sent rescue teams to the affected areas to check for casualties and to inspect the buildings damaged during the quake.
Relief materials, including 100 tents, eight tonnes of flour, 300 cotton quilts and coats, and 20 tonnes of coal, were dispatched to Karajol by the city’s civil affairs department, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Atux lies in the southwest of Xinjiang, about 1,500 km from the regional capital Urumqi.