A magnitude-5.4 earthquake jolted China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region at 3:12am Thursday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. Tremors were felt in capital Urumqi and the Turpan region.
The quake was centred at Kumux, Tuokexun County – 41.7 degrees north latitude, 88.4 degrees east longitude – at a depth of 9,000 metres. No casualties have been reported so far. The Xinjiang earthquake bureau said the quake’s affected area is sparsely populated.
Nine passenger trains were suspended in the area because the epicentre was close to the intersection of Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway and Southern Xinjiang Railway, the Urumqi Railway Bureau said.
State broadcaster CCTV said it was the third earthquake over magnitude-5 to hit Xinjiang this year.
