QUAKES IN NORTH WESTERN CHINA KILL 6, DAMAGES THOUSANDS OF HOMES
A strong earthquake hit a rural part of China's far western Xinjiang region on Friday, killing at least six people, injuring dozens and destroying or damaging thousands of homes, the government and state media said.
Many traditional houses in the mainly ethnic Uighur region collapsed when the shallow 6.4 magnitude quake struck about 160 km (100 miles) northwest of the southern city of Hotan, emergency officials said.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs said that at least 3,000 homes either collapsed or were seriously damaged.
Source: Agency
EARTHQUAKE IN CHINA KILLS AT LEAST 75
On Monday morning, Beijing time, the USGS measured a 5.9 magnitude earthquake. The epicenter was in central China's Gansu province, west of the city
of Tianshui, where the Chinese government initially determined the
quake as a 6.6 magnitude.
No injuries or deaths were reported immediately in the province that
has a population of 26 million. At least 75 people have now been
confirmed dead by the local government.
Additionally, a good amount of structural damage reported in the
area. Brick and stone walls crumbled, glass on the side of a high rise
shattered. Thousands of homes have been reported damaged thus far.
The epicenter of the earthquake lies in the Himalaya, an area where
the India and Eurasia plates have been colliding and converging at a
rate of 40-50 mm per year.
Following the first quake, there was a series of aftershocks, one of which registered at a 5.6.
Source: Agencies
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
