•A 4.9 magnitude earthquake hit China's Xinjiang on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at 05:45:44 IST, according to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS).
•The tremor occurred at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers, which generally leads to stronger ground shaking and potential damage.
•China is highly prone to frequent seismic activity, located between the circum-Pacific and circum-Indian seismic belts, squeezed by the Pacific, Indian, and Philippine plates.
•Since 1900, over 800 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater have struck China, affecting almost all provinces except Guizhou, Zhejiang, and Hong Kong.
•Since 1949, more than 100 destructive earthquakes have caused over 270,000 deaths in China, representing 54% of total natural disaster fatalities.
