5.5-magnitude earthquake rocks China's Xinjiang, no casualties reported

URUMQI, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- No casualties have been reported so far after a 5.5-magnitude earthquake jolted the city of Atux in Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

According to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC), the earthquake occurred at 9:46 a.m. Tuesday (Beijing Time), with the epicenter monitored at 40.02 degrees north latitude and 77.86 degrees east longitude at a depth of 10 km.

Several residents in Atux and the nearby Bachu County in the prefecture of Kashgar told Xinhua that they had felt the tremor, but not strongly.

According to the regional earthquake bureau, the epicenter is located in a mountainous area at an altitude of about 1,400 meters, and is far from urban areas. The nearest village is 38 km away.

The prefecture's firefighting department has allocated nine vehicles to the epicenter area and, as of 11:20 a.m., no casualty and asset loss information had been received.