A 5.4-magnitude earthquake shook China's northwestern Qinghai Province at 1:23 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the China National Seismological Network.

No casualties have been reported so far, and the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was not affected, a spokesman with the Qinghai Seismological Bureau said.

The epicenter was located at 35.3 degrees north and 91.2 degrees east in the Hol Xil Nature Reserve in Zhidoi County, in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu.

The Hol Xil Nature Reserve, with an area of 45,000 square km and an average altitude of 5,000 meters, is home to wild yaks and endangered Tibetan antelopes.

"We have received no reports of dead or injured Tibetan antelopes and other wild animals," said Cega, director of the reserve administration.

"The quake was felt at all of the five wildlife-protection stations in the reserve. We're looking into whether it caused any damage," he said.

The population of Tibetan antelopes in Hol Xil had increased to 60,000 from less than 20,000 in 10 years, thanks to the improved environment and anti-poaching efforts, he said.

Three quakes, measuring 5.1, 5.4 and 5.5 on the Richter scale, struck the Tanggula Range in Qinghai's Mongolian-Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Haixi on June 10. But no casualties were reported.

"The two epicenters are more than 250 km apart. There is no direct link between the quakes," said the Qinghai Seismological Bureau spokesman.

More than 70 quakes above five on the Richter scale had been reported in the Tanggula region since the 1970s, he said.

An 8.0-magnitude quake centered on Wenchuan County, in the southwestern Sichuan Province, left more than 69,000 people dead and more than 17,000 missing after striking on May 12.

It was the worst earthquake since the 7.8-magnitude tremor in 1976 in Tangshan, northern Hebei Province, which claimed more than 240,000 lives.

(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2008)