The sparsely populated Ngari region in western Tibet Autonomous Region was hit by a strong
earthquake and an after-shock on Saturday afternoon, but no
casualties were reported.
It will take days to get accurate details of the damage because
of the remoteness of the villages that may have been affected by
the earthquakes, said information from Ngari Prefectural
Government.
The earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale shook the
border areas between Rutog and Gerze in Ngari, at 4:51 PM on
Saturday, China's Seismological Monitoring Network reported.
The epicenter was determined to be at 34.3 degrees north
latitude and 81.9 degrees east longitude.
An after-shock measuring 5 on the Richter scale was also
monitored in the region of Ngari at 5:11 PM on the same day.
Preliminary investigations show the worst hit were Songxi, Aru
villages in Rutog County, and Bare Village in Gerze. Cracks were
found in the walls of some residential apartments near the township
government headquarters of Dongru, administered by Rutog.
Ngari Prefectural Government sources say that they have sent
workers to investigate other villages in the region.
(Xinhua News Agency May 7, 2007)