The tremor hit at 1035 am (0235 GMT) between Minxian, Lintan and Jone counties, said the State Seismological Bureau.

"So far we have heard that eight people have been injured, two seriously," a bureau official surnamed Yan told AFP.

"A number of houses have collapsed. We have sent a rescue team to the area, so have the Gansu authorities," he said.

"At this stage we don't think the situation is too serious."

According to the Chinese seismological monitoring network, the epicenter was some 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of the Gansu capital Lanzhou.

The three counties have a combined population of 690,000.

Two strong earthquakes struck Gansu last month, killing at least 10 people and destroying more than 14,000 homes.

Thousands of people in the area were earlier this month still without electricity and water supplies as temperatures plunged below freezing.

TERRA.WIRE