The quake struck at 8:23 p.m. on Friday with the epicenter in Laoyingtai Village located across Qian'an and Qian'guo counties in Songyuan City, about 200 km north of the provincial capital of Changchun, according to Zheng Yaqin, deputy head of the seismological bureau of Changchun City.

The quake, followed by two aftershocks, has a strong destructive force, said officials with the bureau.

Cracks can be seen on the walls of a number of houses in the village and some warehouses have collapsed.

Rescuers are working at the site and seismological experts are rushing to the epicenter area.

The quake has been felt by residents of most parts of Jilin and some regions in the neighboring provinces of Liaoning and Heilongjiang, and the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.