Moderate earthquake hits northwestern China
( 2003-11-13 17:06) (Agencies)
A moderate earthquake hit a remote swath of northwestern China on Thursday,
shaking the same province as two lethal tremors last month. Eight people were
injured but there were no immediate reports of fatalities in the thinly
populated area.
The epicenter of the 5.2-magnitude quake was in Gansu province,
1,245 kilometers (780 miles) west of Beijing, the national capital - and 135
kilometers (85 miles) south of Lanzhou, the provincial capital.
That area is more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) southeast of Minle, the
area hardest-hit by the quakes last month.
Authorities said they expected aftershocks. One official at the State
Seismological Bureau in Beijing, who identified himself only as Mr. Bai, said he
had received reports of eight people injured but no fatalities. He said the
tremor hit at 10:35 a.m. (0235 GMT).
A Gansu provincial government official who gave only his surname, Yao,
confirmed the earthquake but said he had no information on injuries or damage.
Last month in Gansu, two quakes, with magnitudes of 6.1 and 5.8 respectively,
hit the region seven minutes apart, followed in coming hours by nearly 400
aftershocks. Nine people were killed and 43 injured, six seriously, in the
collapses that followed.
More than 14,000 houses were flattened in 175 villages after those tremors.
Cleanup and recovery was still continuing last week, the government
said.
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