Sun, 19:44 18 May 2008 GMT17

 

Strong earthquake hits southwest China
12 May 2008 07:01:28 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds details)

BEIJING, May 12 (Reuters) - An earthquake measuring 7.5 rocked China's Sichuan province on Monday, less than 100 km (60 miles) from the provincial capital of Chengdu, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties or damage from the tremor which the USGS earlier put at 7.8.

The tremor, centred 92 km northwest of Chengdu, was felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai and the Thai capital Bangkok, where office buildings swayed with the impact.

"We felt continuous shaking for about two or three minutes. All the people in our office are rushing downstairs. We're still feeling slight tremblings," said an office worker in Chengdu.

In Beijing's financial district, many workers poured from their buildings but there were no visible signs of damage. The subway system was unaffected.

"People were shouting 'get out, get out', so we all ran out of our dorm," said a student surnamed Zhang at a university in nearby Chongqing.

Sources said there was no immediate impact to the Three Gorges Dam project, the weight of whose massive reservoir, hundreds of km from Chengdu, experts have said could increase the risk of tremors.

A spokesman for the China Earthquake Administration said it was still checking the epicentre and scale of the tremor. (Reporting by Beijing Bureau; Writing by Lindsay Beck; Editing by Nick Macfie)
AlertNet news is provided by

Related articles

Breaking stories
Asia VIDEO: China villagers flee flood threat

Asia VIDEO: Quake rescuers work against time

AlertNet insight
Asia MEDIAWATCH: Seismic shift in Chinese quake coverage?

Aid agency news feed
Asia Nightmare of school tragedy

Blogs
Asia HIV threat looms over China's evolution

Maps
Asia City of Maowen, Sichuan Province. Infrastructure and Damages by Earthquake


Country information


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-05-18T173050Z_01_RKR10_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/RKR10.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-05-18T150548Z_01_RKR09_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/RKR09.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-05-18T150407Z_01_RKR08_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/RKR08.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-05-18T150230Z_01_RKR07_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/RKR07.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-05-18T150020Z_01_RKR06_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE-CHINA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/RKR06.htm

A school bag and books are placed beside a grave at a makeshift graveyard in the earthquake shaken town of Hongbai, Sichuan province May 18, 2008.Thousands of soldiers and families looking ...



URL: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK226394.htm

For our full disclaimer and copyright information please visit http://www.alertnet.org