No casualties reported from Xinjiang quake, railways closed

URUMQI - No casualties have been reported after a 5.1-magnitude earthquake in Hami City in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Wednesday afternoon, according to the local government.

The quake occurred at 2:20 p.m when terrified citizens ran out of shaking buildings.

The epicenter was monitored at 43.1 degrees north latitude and 94.3 degrees east longitude. The quake was nine kilometers deep, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The epicenter is in a sparsely-populated mountainous area, which is some 71 kilometers away from Hami and more than 670 kilometers southeast to Urumqi, the regional capital.

Earthquake Networks staff have gone to the epicenter area to investigate the damage.

Yiwu County, with a population of more than 21,000, is only 36.4 kilometers away from to the epicenter, but it has not report any damage to residential houses so far, said the administration.

Rail service into and out of Hami has been suspended and workers are examining rails and bridges along the routes, according to the Urumqi railway administration.

"So far, we have not found any obvious damages on the rails or other facilities, but for safety sake, it's a routine to have the railways closed once a quake occurs and we need check them though, " said an official with the railway administration.