At least seven people were wounded, one of whom was seriously injured, when two earthquakes measuring 6.1 degrees and 5.8 degrees on the Richter scale hit northwest China's Gansu Province Saturday night.

The quakes jolted areas between Minle and Shandan counties of Zhangye City in Gansu Province at 20:41 and 20:48 Saturday. According to the Chinese seismological monitoring network, the epicenters of the quakes are located at 38.4 degrees north latitude, 101.2 degrees east longitude, and 38.4 degrees north latitude and 101.1 degrees east longitude.

Sources from the provincial seismological bureau of Gansu said that 30 percent of the houses in the epicenters have been severely damaged.

The latest report from the bureau says that 90 percent of the buildings in Yaozhaizi village, Yonggu Township of Minle County, have collapsed in the quakes.

The temperature in the earthquake-shaken areas was five to six degrees below zero. It has snowed a few days ago.

The epicenters are about 500 kilometers northwest to Lanzhou, capital city of Gansu Province.

Gansu provincial government and the State Seismological Bureau would jointly send a task force to the quake-torn area later Sunday morning.

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