KAMPALA, July 30 (Xinhua) -- A 5.3-magnitude earthquake on Sunday jolted Uganda's Rubirizi District in Western Region.

The United States Geological Survey said the 5.3 magnitude tremor that shook a 39-kilometre area, about 24 miles of the western district of Rubirizi, happened at 10 a.m. local time.

The earthquake, occurring at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), was also felt in parts of northern Tanzania.

Patrick Onyango, an official at the Police Public Relations office in the capital, Kampala, said there were no immediate reports of casualties or property destroyed in the morning tremor that occurred as people were on Sunday morning prayers.

"It's true. A tremor occurred this morning. People were thrown in panic. But we haven't yet received any reports of deaths or destruction of property," said Onyango.

There have been rare cases of earthquakes in Uganda, which experiences some seismological activity as companies search for oil in the Lake Albert area along the Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo border.

At least 11 people were killed in September 2016 in Tanzania and property destroyed in Uganda after a 5.7 earthquake hit the Lake Victoria region. Enditem

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