China's Sichuan hit by earthquake

BEIJING (AP) ? A powerful earthquake jolted China's Sichuan province on Saturday, in the same area where a devastating quake struck five years ago.

The Chinese government's seismological bureau and state-run television said there were no initial reports of casualties in the quake, which hit shortly after 8 a.m. near the town of Linqiong.

The bureau initially measured the quake at magnitude-7, while the U.S. Geological Survey recorded it at 6.6-magnitude, powerful enough to cause severe damage. Its depth was shallow, less than 13 kilometers or 8 miles, which could magnify the impact.

The Xinhua News Agency said that the quake rattled buildings in the provincial capital of Chengdu 115 kilometers, or 70 miles, to the east.

The epicenter lies along the same Longmenshan fault where the devastating 7.9-magnitude quake struck in May 2008, leaving more than 90,000 people dead or missing and presumed dead.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-sichuan-hit-earthquake-012547809.html

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