Three powerful aftershocks hit southwest China's earthquake area on Thursday, killing at least two person and injuring more than 40.

One person, who was yet to be properly identified, was killed and five were injured in Gansu Province.

Nineteen people were injured in Shaanxi Province.

The tremors measuring 5.6, 4.9 and 6 on the Richter scale hit the juncture of Ningqiang County, Shaanxi Province, and Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province, early on Thursday morning and in the afternoon.

The earthquake relief headquarters in Longnan City, Gansu, said on Friday that more than 700 houses in the city collapsed in the tremors, which also disrupted a dozen of roads to rural townships and villages.

The effect in Shaanxi was concentrated in Hanzhong City, where 277 homes were destroyed and 1,830 were severely damaged.

The aftershocks, more than two months after the magnitude-8 earthquake that hit Sichuan on May 12, also left one dead, 17 injured and about 1,200 homes destroyed in Sichuan, as of 5:00 PM on Thursday.

(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2008)