Beijing: A magnitude-6.4
earthquake has struck a remote region of northwest China, damaging a few
dozen homes but causing no casualties.
The official Xinhua News Agency said the epicenter of the 1:13 am quake
was in an unpopulated area about 33 kilometers (20 miles) from the
county seat of Menyuan in Qinghai province.
The US Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 5.9 and said it
struck at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) on the western edge of the
Plateau of Tibet, where the collision of the India and Eurasia plates
generates numerous earthquakes and makes the region one of the world's
most seismically hazardous.
Xinhua quoted local officials as saying the quake caused cracks in about
20 homes and other damage in more than 30 others. Authorities sent 700
tents to the area.
"The tremor lasted one to two minutes ... with a rumbling noise," the
agency quoted Menyuan country resident Ma Wulong as saying.
The tremor also was felt in the provincial capital of Xining.