5.0 quake hits SW China: reports

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 on Thursday struck the region of southwest China that was devastated last year by a massive quake, the US Geological Survey said.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 on Thursday struck the region of southwest China that was devastated last year by a massive quake, the US Geological Survey said.

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The latest earthquake occurred at 4:25 pm (0825 GMT) about 200 kilometres (124 miles) northeast of the Sichuan provincial capital, Chengdu, it said.

The shallow quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres, the USGS said.

China's official Xinhua news agency also reported the quake but its brief dispatch made no mention of any casualties or damage.

Last year's 8.0-magnitude earthquake on May 12 left nearly 88,000 people dead or missing, injured 375,000 and left more than five million homeless, according to previous official estimates.