An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale jolted Akto County in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region early yesterday morning.

The tremor occurred at 7:16 am in the area about 130 kilometres to the southwest of Kashi and 25 kilometres away from the border with Tajikistan, said officials from the Xinjiang Seismological Bureau.

No casualties or structural damage were reported, Wang Jida, an official from the bureau told China Daily yesterday.

"Since Akto County lies in a remote mountainous area which has large unpopulated areas in western Xinjiang, the damage will be limited and no casualty is reported now," Wang said.

However, certain sections of road passing through the county have been damaged by landslides triggered by the quake, he said.

The epicentre was located at 38.5 degrees north latitude and 75.1 degrees east longitude, according to the China Seismological Bureau.

Seismologists predict aftershocks measuring above 5 on the Richter scale in the following days.

Bulunkou Village, which has a population of around 5,000, lies near the epicentre, but communication links were severed by the quake.

The nearby Muji Village has also been affected, but the economic loss is limited and no casualties have been reported, local officials said yesterday.

A rescue team sent by local government rushed to the disaster area to provide help.

Lying on an earthquake belt, Xinjiang has been frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in its western and northern areas.
Xinjiang has suffered four big earthquakes above 5 on the Richter scale this year.

The biggest tremor in the region this year happened on February 24 in Kashi Prefecture with a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale, leaving more than 260 people dead and at least 2,500 others injured.

(China Daily September 3, 2003)