The 5.5-magnitude temblor struck near the city of Dezhou, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of the Chinese capital Beijing, at 2:33 a.m., according to the China Earthquake Network Center. The United States Geological Survey put the magnitude at 5.4.
The quake caused 74 houses to collapse and injured 10 people, government broadcaster China Central Television and other news outlets reported.
Television broadcasts showed Dezhou residents rushing to the streets after the quake sitting on the sidewalks in the pre-dawn darkness. Videos on social media showed bricks that had fallen from the wall cracked.
Authorities were inspecting railway tracks for possible damage, the official China News Service reported. CCTV reported that gas service was interrupted in some areas due to damaged pipes.
Dezhou and the surrounding city-administered area have about 5.6 million people, according to the city’s government website.
The quake’s epicenter was about 10 kilometers (six miles) below the surface, according to the Center for Seismological Networks.
“The closer the earthquake is to the surface, the stronger it is going to feel,” said Abreu Paris, a geophysicist at the US Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
