"More than 100 were injured, three of them seriously," said a spokesman for the government in the Xilingol prefecture, surnamed Hasi.

The quake hit Wednesday morning in an area of Inner Mongolia some 550 kilometers (340 miles) north of Beijing.

Hundreds of buildings near the epicenter were damaged in the brief, but devastating quake, the China Daily said Friday.

The tremor took place in a vast pasture area inhabited by about 140,000 people, the paper said.

A quake of the same magnitude in Inner Mongolia last year left three people dead, more than 1,000 injured and some 8,000 ruined homes.

TERRA.WIRE