Thousands of buildings were damaged in an earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale in northwest China's Gansu Province on Tuesday night, local authorities reported on Wednesday.

According to China's earthquake monitoring network, the earthquake struck at 10:49 PM, with its epicenter in Jingtai County.

Tremors were strongly felt in the surrounding counties and cities including Lanzhou, the provincial capital.

Several buildings collapsed but local officials believe none of them were residential buildings. More than 2,000 houses have reportedly been damaged but there have been no reports of any deaths or injuries.

Soon after the quake, local officials headed rescue teams to the disaster-hit areas to guide the relief work.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2007)