An earthquake in Northwest China has left five people injured, according to the Gansu Provincial Seismic Bureau.

The earthquake, measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale, struck at about 1 am yesterday.

The epicentre was about 30 kilometres to the east of Wenxian County, in southern Gansu Province.

A bureau official surnamed Zhang said the earthquake caused two big cave-ins on National Highway 202, which links Wenxian and Wudu counties.

The bureau's website announced later that the cave-ins had been repaired and normal traffic resumed by 10 am yesterday.

The earthquake destroyed five houses in Linjiang and Liping townships, two of the worst hit areas, said Yue Jinlin, secretary of the Wenxian County Party Committee.

However details of the damage and economic loss are still not known, said Yue.

The bureau said 12 villages in the county's Qiaotou township were affected, with Xinsi village being the worst hit with 25 houses severely damaged. A three-storey school building in Linjiang cracked and part of its roof collapsed, but fortunately no one was hurt.

Zhang said the bureau launched its emergency response mechanism shortly after the earthquake, sending three teams of seismic specialists to the area. Government departments at Wenxian County also sent working teams to Linjiang and Liping.

(China Daily 06/22/2006 page1)