Asia-Pacific News

Earthquake shakes remote area of Tibet (Roundup)

Jul 24, 2009, 8:28 GMT

Beijing - A moderate earthquake shook a remote area of China's Tibet region Friday, Chinese and US government seismologists reported. The epicentre of the magnitude-5.7 quake that struck at 11:11 am (0311 GMT) was 2,925 kilometres west of Beijing and 360 kilometres north-west of the nearest Tibetan town, Shigatse, close to China's Himalayan border with Nepal, the US Geological Survey said on its website. The China Earthquake Administration measured the magnitude of the quake at 5.6 on the Richter scale and said a preliminary assessment concluded that no major damage was expected in the sparsely populated area in Tibet's Nyima and Coqen counties. Cracks were reported in the walls of some adobe-brick houses and a team of experts planned to leave for the area Friday afternoon from Lhasa, Tibet's capital, state media quoted local officials as saying. The epicentre was about 70 kilometres from the Nyima county seat, where the quake was reportedly not felt, and the affected area had an average altitude of about 5,000 metres above sea level, the administration said. It estimated the depth of the quake at about 33 kilometres, more than three times the depth reported by the US agency.

Asia-Pacific News

Earthquake shakes remote area of Tibet (Roundup)

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