BEIJING - An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale jolted Hoxud County of Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture of Bayingolin in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at 2:20 pm Sunday Beijing Time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The epicenter, with a depth of seven km, was monitored at about 42.1 degrees north latitude and 87.5 degrees east longitude, the center said in a statement.

The epicenter is about 188 km southwest to the regional capital of Urumqi.

A magnitude 3.6 earthquake, with a depth of eight km, struck the same point six minutes later, according to a separate report from the center.

Earlier on the same day, the center recorded another 3.1-magnitude earthquake which jolted the nearby Turpan prefecture at 7:10 am.