4.7 degree quake jolts northwestern China

An earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale jolted northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at 11:21 a.m. Friday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. The epicenter, with a depth of 6 km, was monitored at about 43.6 degrees north latitude and 82.3 degrees east longitude, the center said in a statement, carried by Xinhua news agency . Though quakes occur in the area frequently, buildings in rural areas and China's fast-growing smaller cities and towns are often constructed poorly. A magnitude-7.9 quake that hit Sichuan province, just north of Yunnan, in 2008 killed nearly 90,000 people, with many of the deaths blamed on poorly built structures, including schools.