No casualties reported after 5.4-magnitude quake in China's Qinghai

XINING -- No casualties have been reported as of Friday morning after a 5.4-magnitude earthquake jolted Northwest China's Qinghai province, local authorities said.

The quake hit the city of Delingha, Qinghai, at 9:26 am Friday. The epicenter was monitored at 38.52 degrees north latitude and 97.33 degrees east longitude, with a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

There are no villages within 20 km of the epicenter at an altitude of 4,560 meters, which is around 128 km away from the urban area of Delingha and 446 km from the provincial capital Xining.

A total of 35 earthquakes measuring above magnitude 3 struck the areas within 200 km of the epicenter in the past five years, the CENC said.

"Strong tremors were felt in Delingha. No casualties or property losses have been reported so far," said Wen Yong from the local earthquake monitoring center.

Rescue and firefighting teams are on standby.