USGS: 6.5-magnitude quake strikes northwest China

BEIJING – A strong magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck

remote northwestern China on Monday, the U.S.

Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports

of casualties.

The quake struck the Qinghai province at a depth of 6.2

miles on Monday morning, the agency said. The USGS

said the quake's epicenter was located 1,120 miles west

of Beijing.

China's Earthquake Administration confirmed the

earthquake, but said it had a magnitude of 6.3 on its

scale.

The USGS said the quake's epicenter was 35 miles east

of Da Qaidam district, in northern Qinghai. The population

of the county seat, Da Qaidam town, is about 15,000

people.

An official at the Da Qaidam administrative committee

said authorities have sent 180 people to investigate but

there were no immediate reports of casualties.

The quake was felt in Golmud, the second-largest city in

the province with a population of 270,000, 100 miles

south of the epicenter.

Hotels in the city said they could feel the tremors but that

the quake was not major enough to cause significant

damage.

China's far west is fairly earthquake-prone. A 7.9

magnitude earthquake on May 12 devastated parts of

Sichuan province, just east of Tibet, killing 70,000 people

and leaving 5 million homeless.

轉貼自：

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081110/ap_on_re_as/as_china_earthquake