Powerful earthquake strikes Tibet
Curtesy by Space Daily

An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale shook a sparsely populated area of China's mountainous Tibetan region on Wednesday, Chinese authorities said.

The quake struck in Gaize county around 4:30 pm (0830 GMT) about 550 kilometres (350 miles) northwest of Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, the regional seismological bureau and the China Earthquake Administration reported.

"We have no staff stationed in this area as no people live there," an official from the Tibetan Seismological Bureau told AFP. No casualties were immediately reported.

While the Chinese officials said the quake measured 6.9 on the Richter scale, the United States Geological Survey said the quake was 6.3 on its Mw scale.

According to a Gaize county official surnamed Han, the epicentre of the quake occurred about 100 kilometres east of the county seat near a village called Dongcuo.

"We are sending people there now to see the exact situation. It is a mountainous area, the traffic conditions are not good, but not many people live in this area," Han said.

Another official in Gaize surnamed Wang said about 1,000 people live in Dongcuo.

The official Xinhua news agency said no casualties had been reported.

According to the China Mapping Publishing House, Gaize county covers an area of 135,000 square kilometres (54,000 square miles), but in 2005 had a population of only 16,900.