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Magnitude 6.0 quake hits Tibet, no damage reported

AP

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck southwestern Tibet on Thursday near the border with Nepal, close to an area hit late last month by a stronger quake that damaged hundreds of homes.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the quake, which hit Zhongba county in Xigaze prefecture at 9:47 a.m. (0147 GMT), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was located 250 miles (400 kilometers) northwest of Nepal’s capital, Katmandu.

A spokeswoman for the Zhongba government said no injuries had been reported and local authorities were still checking the situation. The woman refused to give her name as is common among Chinese officials.

The thinly populated mountainous region is about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) west of Beijing.

In late August, the USGS reported that an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 hit the region. China’s official Xinhua News Agency said schools, a hydropower station and 622 homes were damaged and about 2,000 people forced to seek temporary shelter. No deaths or injuries were reported and truckloads of aid material and relief funds were sent to the area.

On May 12, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in China’s Sichuan province, just east of Tibet, killed 70,000 people and left 5 million homeless.

Copyright © 2008 Associated Press

Published in International Herald Tribune