© Xinhua/Zhang NanA damaged house in Yaoyingtu Village of Chaganhua Township, northeast China's Jilin Province.
There have so far been 12 reports of injuries after two earthquakes shook Songyuan City in northeast China's Jilin Province on Thursday morning, local authorities said. A 5.5-magnitude quake hit the city at 11:03 a.m. Its depth was eight km, and its epicenter was located at 44.6 degrees north latitude and 124.2 degrees east longitude, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.
A second 5.0-magnitude quake at a depth of six km hit the same area at 11:10 a.m, and at least three aftershocks of 3 magnitude or above hit the area during the afternoon. As of 5:30 p.m., nearly 5,000 homes had been damaged in Qian Gorlos Mongol Autonomous County and Qian'an county. Local governments are still verifying economic losses.
"I felt three quakes, and my house was shaking badly," said Ju Shufen, a villager in Chaganhua Town, the worst quake-stricken area. "We heard sudden sounds similar to firecrackers and felt the house shaking," said villager Li Jinlong, adding that he found cracks on house walls after he ran out of his home.
