China Is Hit by 7.5 Magnitude Earthquake Near Chengdu

People gather outside on a street in Beijing, China, shortly after Monday's earthquake. (image source AP)

By Aaron Sheldrick and Eugene Tang found at http://www.bloomberg.com

May 12 (Bloomberg) -- China was hit by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake near the central city of Chengdu, the U.S. Geological Survey said, causing buildings to shake in Beijing more than 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) away.

The quake struck 90 kilometers west-northwest of Chengdu at 2:28 p.m. local time at a depth of 10 kilometers, the USGS said on its Web site. Chengdu is the provincial capital of Sichuan and has a population of about 11 million people.

Phone calls from Beijing couldn't be connected to Chengdu and mobile phone networks were down in Beijing and Shanghai.

The quake shook buildings in Beijing for more than three minutes and traffic stopped. Office workers were seen scrambling to get out of China World Tower, Beijing's tallest building. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The earthquake struck about 350 kilometers west-northwest of Chongqing, a city of about 30 million in central China.

It was the world's strongest quake since a 7.8 magnitude temblor struck south of Fiji in the Pacific Ocean in December last year, according to the USGS Web site.

To contact the reporters on this story: Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo at asheldrick@bloomberg.net; Eugene Tang in Beijing on eugenetang@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 12, 2008

Strong China quake rattles east Asia

may 12, 2008 found at edition.cnn.com

	NEW: Two smaller quakes follow magnitude 7.5 tremor in central China
	Quake reportedly felt as far away as Bangkok, Thailand
	Quake was relatively shallow, with potential for great damage, scientist says

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- An earthquake capable of causing major damage shook central China on Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

It registered a magnitude of 7.5, the survey said.

Two more earthquakes -- measuring 6.0 and 5.4 magnitudes -- happened nearby over the next hour, the USGS reported.

China's state-run CCTV reported no serious damage in Chengdu, a city of more than 10 million that is about 60 miles from the epicenter, in the eastern part of China's Sichuan province.

"This is a very dangerous earthquake," said Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake has the potential to cause major damage because of its strength and proximity to major population centers, he said. In addition, the earthquake was relatively shallow, Presgrave said, and those kinds of quakes tend to do more damage near the epicenter than deeper ones.

The ground shook as far away as Beijing, which is 950 miles (1,528km) from the epicenter. They felt "a very quiet rolling sensation" that lasted for about a minute, according to CNN correspondent John Vause.

"Our building began to sway," he said.

Thousands of people were evacuated from Beijing high rises immediately after the earthquake.

The first earthquake happened at 2:28 p.m. local time (2:28 a.m. ET), the USGS said.

The earthquake was also felt in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, and as far away as Hanoi, Vietnam, and Bangkok, Thailand, according to the Hong Kong-based Mandarin-language channel Phoenix TV.