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Experts have warned that more earthquakes of magnitude 5 or 6 may strike Northeast China in the near future.

"The whole area is unstable because a massive magnitude-9.0 earthquake in Japan in 1999 caused large-scale movement of the lithosphere, or the earth's rigid surface, according to our observation," Liu Jie, director of the China Earthquake Networks Center, told China Daily on Sunday.

"In the coming one or two years, Northeast China - including Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang -and eastern parts of Inner Mongolia are expected to have an increasingly frequent earthquakes until the stability of the region's crusts recovers," Liu said.

He said local authorities should fully prepare for the potential risks.

However, Liu said although there might be frequent earthquakes in Northeast China, there is no sign a massive earthquake above magnitude-6.0 is likely to happen.

According to the China Earthquake Administration, as of Sunday afternoon, 426 quakes had been recorded in Songyuan since a magnitude-5.5 earthquake hit the region on Oct 31.

Of the recorded quakes, Songyuan had five at magnitudes 5.0 to 5.9, including a magnitude-5.8 quake on Saturday, according to the administration.

The Jilin provincial government issued a third-level disaster emergency response, and earthquake experts were keeping close watch on geological data, such as geomagnetic readings.

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