(Photo: China Earthquake Networks Center)

An earthquake measuring  a magnitude of 5.3 struck Gongxian County, Yibin, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, at 8:48 am (Beijing Time) on Thursday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

Residents felt strong tremors, and some houses were damaged. One person was slightly injured as of 11 a.m, according to the local emergency officials.

The quake has caused a direct economic loss of 620,000 yuan (about $90,338).

The quake's epicenter is monitored at 28.20 degrees north and 104.86 degrees east, and 15 kilometers deep, said the center.

Zhang Liang, a Party official in the village of Tonghe, about 20 kilometers from the epicenter, told the Xinhua News Agency that he felt strong shaking for around 10 seconds, and the earthquake caused cracks in some houses in the village.

The Sichuan Earthquake Administration has activated an emergency response and dispatched a working team to assist the local government's disaster relief efforts. Xinhua reported.

Major roads in the county were not affected, and telecommunications and power supply in the quake-affected region have remained undisturbed.

Experts with the Sichuan Earthquake Administration warned of possible earthquakes between magnitudes of 4 and 5 in the region in the near future.

Students of a primary school in Luohai Township, Gongxian, are evacuated when an earthquake hits. (Gif: Sichuan Daily)

Following the quake, traffic police officers were mobilized to check and clean up the roads that were affected. (Photos: Weibo account of Gongxian traffic police station)

(Compiled by Huang Jingjing)