No major damage after China earthquake
Monday, 12 May 2008 09:15A powerful earthquake that shook southwestern China today does not appear to have caused major damage in the metropolis of Chengdu near its epicentre.
A reporter for state television news in Chengdu said residents of the city poured out onto the streets following the 7.5-magnitude quake but that public transport and electricity supplies remain operational.
No one appears to have been hurt in Chengdu.
Cellular telecommunications seem to have been disrupted.
The quake struck 93kms from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province and a major population centre with more than 10m people, according to the US Geological Survey.
The quake was felt across much of China and as far southwest as Bangkok, Thailand's capital, some 3,300km away, where office buildings swayed for several minutes.
China's tallest building, the Jinmao Tower in Shanghai, as well as other high rise buildings, were ordered evacuated after the quake and aftershocks.
Many workers poured from their buildings in Beijing's financial centre, but there were no visible signs of damage. The subway system was unaffected.
Sources said there was no immediate impact to the Three Gorges Dam project, the weight of whose massive reservoir, hundreds of kms from Chengdu, experts have said could increase the risk of tremors.
In February 2003 at least 94 people were killed and more than 200 injured when a quake measuring 6.8 hit the sparsely populated Jiashi county in Xinjiang.
