An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale jolted Yutian County in Hotan Prefecture in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at 11:27 p.m. Beijing Time on Thursday, said the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The epicenter, with a depth of 6 km, was determined to be at 36.5degrees north latitude and 82.4 degrees east longitude, which is about 75 km to the seat of Yutian County.

There have been no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The center said the epicentral area is a high-altitude, sparsely-populated region with a population density of three people per square kilometer.