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

"One person is dead, eight are injured. We don't expect the casualties to rise too much as it is a largely rural area," an official surnamed Zeng from the Minxian county communist party committee told AFP.

"The man died when a small bridge collapsed on top of him. We have dispatched tents to the area, houses collapsed but we are not sure how many."

A seismological bureau official surnamed Yan also said eight people had been injured, two seriously.

"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.

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