Communications cut off after tremor in NW China

Communications were cut off in some townships and villages after a 4.5-magnitude quake jolted a county in Northwest China's Gansu province, local government said Saturday.

The quake shook Wenxian county in Longnan city at 00:25 am Saturday (Beijing Time), with its epicenter six km deep, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The quake was strongly felt in the county. Many local residents, who had fallen asleep, ran out of their homes to open areas in drizzly weather. Some of them returned home after no aftershocks occurred.

Communications in many villages were cut off and authorities were checking whether there were any casualties, said an official with the Wenxian county government.

The county has a population of 250,000.

The quake came after a 6.6-magnitude quake hit Minxian and Zhangxian counties in Dingxi, Gansu on Monday, which has left at least 95 dead and another 1,461 injured.