A 5.6-magnitude aftershock that jolted the area between Ningqiang County, Shaanxi Province and Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province injured five people early on Thursday.

The five injuries were all reported in Ningqiang. Wang Wenhua, one of the five injured, suffered the worst injuries, said information from the Emergency Response Office of Ningqiang County Government.

Chinese earthquake networks monitored that a quake of 5.6 degrees on the Richter Scale hit the join between Ningqiang and Qingchuan, both worst hit in the 8.0-magnitude earthquake last May, at 3:54 a.m. on Thursday.

The epicenter of Thursday's aftershock was at 32.8 degrees north latitude and 105.6 degrees east longitude.

Wang, a farmer from neighboring Guangyuan City in Sichuan, said he had been staying at a room on the second floor of a guesthouse in Guangping Town, Ningqiang.

When the aftershock struck, Wang jumped off the second floor to escape, breaking his left arm and suffering bruises to the legs.

Casualties in Qingchuan, Sichuan, however, are not immediately known.

The death toll from the May 12 earthquake stood at 69,197 as of Monday noon. The missing and injured toll remained at 18,222 and 374,176, respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2008)