An earthquake in northwest China's Gansu Province has left five people injured, according to the Gansu Provincial Seismic Bureau.

The earthquake, measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale, struck at?00:52 AM yesterday.

The epicenter was about 30 kilometers to the east of Wenxian County, a southern part of the province.

A bureau official surnamed Zhang said the earthquake caused two big cave-ins on National Highway 212, which links Wenxian and Wudu counties.

The bureau's website announced later that the cave-ins had been repaired and normal traffic resumed by 10 AM yesterday.

The earthquake destroyed five houses in Linjiang and Liping townships, two of the worst hit areas, said Yue Jinlin, secretary of Wenxian County's Party committee.

However, details of the damage and economic losses are still not known, Yue said.

According to the bureau, 12 villages in the county's Qiaotou Township were affected, with Xinsi Village being the worst hit with 25 houses severely damaged. Walls of a three-story school building in Linjiang cracked and part of its roof collapsed, but fortunately no one was hurt.

Zhang said the bureau launched its emergency response mechanism shortly after the earthquake, sending three teams of seismic specialists to the area. Government departments at Wenxian also sent working teams to Linjiang and Liping.

(China Daily June 22, 2006)