Photo: CCTV

A 4.8-magnitude earthquake shook Yongning county in Yinchuan, capital of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, at 10:01 am on Thursday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

The epicenter was located at 38.4 degrees north latitude and 106.22 degrees east longitude. The quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the Xinhua News Agency. 

As of press time, no reports of building collapses or casualties have emerged. The earthquake was strongly felt in nearby regions, including Wuhai, Bayannur of Inner Mongolia and Lanzhou of Gansu Province, according to CCTV News. 

According to CENC, there have been 21 earthquakes of 3.0-magnitude or above within a 200-km radius of the epicenter in the past five years. The strongest earthquake was a 4.9-magnitude quake that occurred on December 31, 2023, in Baiyin of Gansu Province, 214 kilometers away from the Thursday earthquake's epicenter.

Local firefighters were assembled and 20 vehicles and 105 personnel have been deployed to carry out inspections around the epicenter, and other teams are on standby for immediate deployment, according to CCTV.

According to the Earthquake Agency of Ningxia, seismic monitoring data in Yinchuan was normal, and no abnormalities were detected in macro-observations of the earthquake. The possibility of a 5.0-magnitude or above earthquake occurring in the original seismic zone is low though the possibility of strong aftershocks remains.

Global Times