DHARAMSHALA, August 12: A 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit Tibet’s Zogang County and Markham County in Chamdo, this morning around 5.23 AM (local time). However, no human casualties have been reported so far, according to China’s state run media said.
The epicenter of the quake lies in Ringo, a mountainous town with a population of 3,476, and is 75 km away from the county seat of Zogang. Eight of the 12 villages in Ringo are not accessible by telecommunication or motorable road.
The United States Geological Survey measured the quake as 5.7 magnitude at a depth of 31 miles, while the Hong Kong observatory registered it as 5.9 magnitude.
Much of western China is prone to earthquakes. Twin 5.6 and 5.9 magnitude quakes killed at least 95 people in Gansu province in July this year.
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Sichuan province killed about 200 people earlier this year, five years after almost 90,000 people were killed by a huge tremor in the same province.
