7.1-magnitude Quake Hits Qinghai

A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit northwest China's Qinghai Province early on April 14, the China Earthquake Networks Center said.

The quake struck the Yushu County at 7:49 a.m. with a depth of about 33 km. The epicenter is calculated to be 33.1 north and 96.7 east.

Three aftershocks have been reported so far.

Earlier on 5:39 a.m., a 4.7-magnitude jolted the county with a depth of about 6 km, the center reported.

The epicenter is about 30 km away from the Jiegu Township, the government seat of the Yushu prefecture, and about 800 km away from Xining, the provincial capital.

Yushu is a sparsely-populated region, but experts said the quake is very likely to cause "heavy" casualties.

Backgrounder:

Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is located in Qinghai Province in northwest China. The prefecture has an area of 188,794 km2 and its capital is Gyegu township in Yushu county, which is the place of the old Tibetan trade mart of Jyekundo (Gyêgu). The official source of the Yellow River lies within the prefecture.

(Source: Xinhua)