Earthquakes continuously shook northeast China

Three consecutive earthquakes occurred in northeastern China, causing many homes to be damaged and causing the lives of thousands of people affected.

A house in Tung Yuan City was destroyed by an earthquake.(Photo: Xinhua)

The strongest earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 on the Richer scale occurred at a depth of 12.5km at 6:04 am November 24 (local time) in Changling District, north of Jilin Province, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Another earthquake took place about 30 minutes later, strongly 4.9 Richter in the south of Thien An town, Tung Nguyen city, Cat Lam province with the epicenter at a depth of about 8km. Earlier, the city was also shaken by a powerful seismic 5.3 Richter scale at 4:18 pm on November 23, the news agency added.

More than 58,000 people were affected, 16,000 were evacuated, more than 18,000 were destroyed, the communications office of Jilin Province announced on social networking site Weibo. A series of houses were damaged, some collapsed around the roof and walls. Many villages in the region lose power.