Many dead in Tibet earthquake
Two quakes reported to have struck the capital of the Chinese province and surrounding areas.
China’s state Seismological Bureau said the initial earthquake occurred in Dangxiong county, which has a population of about 42,000 people, mostly herdsmen.
“I felt the building shaking a little bit and saw a bench overturn,” said Ge San, an employee at the Baima Hotel in Dangxiong, who was sitting in a room with about five other employees.
“The shaking was not heavy. We stayed in the room and were not frightened.”
Earthquake prone
China’s far west is quite earthquake prone.
A magnitude-5.7 earthquake shook on Sunday the Xinjiang region, which borders Tibet, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Tibet, a remote, sparsely populated region, has been hit by several moderate earthquakes in recent weeks.
Last month, a magnitude 6 earthquake struck near its border with Nepal but there were no reports of damage or casualties.