BEIJING, Jan. 2 -- Chinese authorities have activated a level-four disaster-relief emergency response after a 4.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Yongning County in Yinchuan, the capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on Thursday.

A work team has been dispatched to aid local relief operations in the affected areas, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located at a latitude of 38.4 degrees north and a longitude of 106.22 degrees east, which struck at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

No casualties have been reported.

At 4:43 p.m. (Beijing Time) on Thursday, another earthquake -- this one with a magnitude of 4.6 -- jolted Jinfeng District in Yinchuan, the center said.

The epicenter of the second quake was located at a latitude of 38.41 degrees north and a longitude of 106.26 degrees east, according to the center.

Many residents were evacuated to public squares, playgrounds and other open areas following the aftershock, according to local sources.

The first earthquake collapsed the outer walls of multiple old residential buildings, causing injuries to passersby, and damage to several cultural relics has been reported. The second earthquake caused the collapse of components of multiple old buildings.

Since 2024, Yinchuan has experienced at least seven earthquakes of magnitudes ranging from 2.2 to 3.6.