An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale jolted Yingjiang County, Dehong Dai-Jinpo Autonomous Prefecture, in southwest China's Yunnan Province, at 8:24 PM on Thursday.

The epicenter was about 10 km underground, 45 km away from the county town, and 500 km away from the provincial capital Kunming, according to a National Earthquake Network press release.

The affected area has a population density of 45 persons per square km and is at an average altitude of 2,000 meters.

It was the second earthquake to occur in Yingjiang in the last two days. A 5.0-magnitude quake jolted the county on Wednesday morning.

No casualties have been reported so far.

(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2008)