Powerful earthquake strikes Tibet--officials
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 18:56:00 01/09/2008
BEIJING -- A powerful earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale shook an uninhabited area of China's mountainous Tibetan region on Wednesday, an official with the Tibetan seismological bureau said.
"The earthquake struck in Gaize county around 4:30 pm (0830 GMT) this afternoon," an official surnamed Xu told Agence France-Presse by phone.
"We have no staff stationed in this area as no people live there."
Gaize is about 650 kilometers (400 miles) northwest of Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.
An official with the Beijing-based China Earthquake Administration confirmed the quake had a magnitude of 6.9.
