Northwest and Southwest China shaken by earthquakes

Two moderate earthquakes jolted the Northwest and the Southwest region of China separately on Tuesday. There was no immediate official confirmation about casualties or damages to properties. But houses in the mountain areas are reported to develop cracked walls and broken roof tiles. In the North-western province, about dozens of buildings are believed to have been damaged by the quake.

The epicenter of the earthquake in China was centered at 96 km from the Yining City and roughly 130 Km from the China-Kazakhstan border. The earthquake struck the remote North-western Xinjiang province at 8:21 am, local time. The magnitude of the earthquake, as recorded by the US Geological Survey, was 5.4 on the Richter scale.

Incidentally, the Xinjiang province had just had an earthquake in the month of August. It had left 3 people critically wounded and damaged about 30 residential buildings.

The other one that hit the Southwest region bordering the provinces of Sichuan and Gansu on Tuesday has recorded 5.5 on the Richter scale. The quake struck at 6 am.

Experts have been dispatched to the affected areas to assess the damage and initiate relief and rescue measures.