Chengdu(BNN) A powerful
earthquake has hit southwestern China.
The magnitude 7.5 quake struck 92 km northwest of
the Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, at
1448 local time (0628 GMT) on Monday.
The quake was powerful enough to sway buildings as
far away as Beijing, Shanghai and the Thai capital,
Bangkok.
Al Jazeera's China correspondent Melissa Chan said
residents in Chengdu reported that the quake lasted
for several minutes.
There have been no reports of casualties.
A man who answered the phone at a branch of the
Holiday Inn in the city said the quake lasted about
five minutes and there were several aftershocks.
"We all felt very scared," he said, but added that
he had not heard of any major damage such as
collapsed buildings or casualties.
Jessica Sigala of the US Geological Survey based in
Colorado, said the quake struck at a relatively
shallow depth, so aftershocks could be expected.
She added that quakes of magnitude 7.5 do have the
potential to cause significant structual damage.
China's deadliest earthquake in recent memory hit
the eastern city of Tangshan in 1976.
The magnitude 7.8 earthqauke followed by an equally
powerful aftershock almost a day later killed around
240,000 people.
Aljazeera
