No deaths have been reported in an earthquake that jolted Baingoin County of Tibet Autonomous Region early Thursday, a local official told Xinhua over the phone.

The quake, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale, flattened some houses in the epicenter area but no casualties have been reported,said Sigyai, head of the Publicity Department of Baingoin County Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The State Seismological Bureau said the earthquake hit Baingoin County at 5:05 AM with the epicenter being 31.5 north latitude and 90.3 east longitude, about 30 km from the county town of Baingoin.

Sigyai said the quake affected eight of the ten towns in Baingoin County, of which Jiaqun town suffered the most serious damages.

Reports from Jiaqun town show that a grain depot and some buildings in a local school collapsed. And cracks were seen on thelocal government office building and some residential buildings of local herdsmen and farmers, Sigyai said.

Sigyai said Baingoin county government had sent rescuers to the quake-affected areas.

A county of 36,028 people, Baingoin is located in the hinterland of the highlands in northern Tibet and covers 30,000 square km.

(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2006)