Moderate 5.4-magnitude earthquake jolts west China

Moderate 5.4-magnitude earthquake jolts west China

2011-11-01 06:20:54 GMT+7 (ICT)

GUANGYUAN, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- A moderate earthquake struck near a city in west China on early Tuesday morning, seismologists said, but it was not immediately known if there were injuries or damage.

The 5.4-magnitude earthquake at 5.58 a.m. local time (2158 GMT Monday) was centered about 48 kilometers (29 miles) west-northwest of Guangyuan, a prefecture-level city in Sichuan Province which is close to the borders with Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It struck about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the China Earthquake Network Center (CENC).

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), which measured the strength of the earthquake at 5.5 body wave magnitude, estimated that some 26,000 people may have felt 'very strong' shaking which could result in moderate to heavy damage.

"The population in this region resides in structures that are highly vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though some resistant structures exist," the USGS said. "Some damage is possible and the impact should be relatively localized."

The USGS further estimated that some 1.6 million people may have felt moderate to strong shaking while 26.7 million people in the region further away from the epicenter may have felt light shaking.

It was not immediately known if the earthquake caused damage or if there were casualties.

Buildings in some regions of China are extremely vulnerable to earthquake shaking, and moderate earthquakes frequently cause serious damage and casualties. In August, at least 26 people were injured when a 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, destroying 80 homes.

And earlier this year, on March 10, at least 26 people were killed and more than 300 others were injured when a moderate 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in China's Yunnan Province.

Before that, on April 14, 2010, nearly 3,000 people were killed and more than 12,000 others were injured when a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck northwest China.

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