This Article is From Jan 08, 2012

Earthquakes jolt northwest China

Beijing: A series of earthquakes measuring 3.1 to 5.0 on the Richter scale jolted northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region today, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.

An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale jolted Hoxud County of Mongolian

Autonomous Prefecture of Bayingolin in Xinjiang region at 2:20 pm Beijing Time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The epicenter, with a depth of seven km, was monitored at about 42.1 degrees north latitude and 87.5 degrees east longitude, the center said in a statement.

The epicenter is about 188 km southwest to the regional capital of Urumqi.

A magnitude 3.6 earthquake, with a depth of eight km, struck the same point six minutes later, Xinhua news agency quoted a separate report from the center as saying.

Earlier in the day, the center recorded another 3.1- magnitude earthquake which jolted the nearby Turpan prefecture at 7:10 am, the report said.

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