5.1-magnitude earthquake hits northwestern China's Gansu: CENC

BEIJING -- A 5.1-magnitude earthquake jolted Zhangye city, Northwest China's Gansu province, on Thursday morning, with no casualties reported as of 10 am, local authorities said.

The earthquake took place at 8:26 am Thursday. The epicenter was monitored at 39.02 degrees north latitude and 97.66 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 9 km, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The epicenter lies in a sparsely populated area, some 170 km from the county seat of Yugur autonomous county of Sunan. Mild tremors were felt in the epicenter and surrounding regions, the local publicity department said.

Local authorities in Gansu have launched emergency response after the quake.