A strong earthquake shook northeast China early Saturday, but there are no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The quake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale hit Wangqing county in Jilin province soon after 1:00 AM in the morning. The earthquake woke and frightened many people, but no buildings collapsed and there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Wangqing county has a population of 400,000 and is more than 1,000 kilometers northeast of Beijing, near the border with North Korea.
China's official Xinhua news agency says the quake was felt in parts of Beijing, as well as in other provinces including Heilongjiang and Liaoning. The earthquake's epicenter was 540 kilometers under the earth's surface. Officials say this was the reason there was no loss of life and no damage.
China's worst earthquake in recent times was in 1976 in the city of Tangshan, about 100 kilometers away from Beijing. That quake killed more than 240,000 people.