Magnitude-6.4 Earthquake Rattles Northwest China, Homes Damaged But No Casualties Reported

China earthquake — A man and a police officer look at his damaged house on July 3, 2015, in Pishan County, China. A 6.5-magnitude earthquake rocked Pishan County in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, killing at least six people. Getty Images/ChinaFotoPress

A magnitude-6.4 earthquake rattled a remote region in northwestern China early Thursday, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The quake damaged a few dozen homes but no casualties were reported.

China's official Xinhua News Agency said that the epicenter of the quake was in an unpopulated area, about 20 miles from Menyuan county in Qinghai province. The U.S. Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 5.9 and said it struck at a depth of 6 miles on the western edge of the Plateau of Tibet, the AP reported. The tremor was also reportedly felt in the provincial capital of Xining.

The earthquake in Menyuan, which is home to around 150,000 people, damaged more than 30 homes while 20 other homes received cracks.

"The tremor lasted one to two minutes ... with a rumbling noise," Menyuan country resident Ma Wulong told Xinhua.

China Earthquake