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Bhutan quake affects 3k people, damages houses in Tibet

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-22 16:15

LHASA: More than 3,000 people in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous region were affected by a strong earthquake that jolted neighboring Bhutan Monday afternoon.

The quake has left 11 people dead in Bhutan.

The 6.3-magnitude quake, with its epicenter at 27.3 degrees north latitude and 91.5 degrees east longitude, struck at 4:53 pm (Beijing time) Monday, the China Earthquake Networks Center said.

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The tremor was strongly felt in the two border counties of Lhozhag and Cona in the Shannan Prefecture in southern Tibet, said Zhu Quan, director of the Tibet Regional Seismological Bureau.

At midday Tuesday, more than 3,000 residents in the two counties have been affected and houses of about 265 families damaged, Zhu said.

"But no casualties have been reported from Chinese territory," he said.

The bureau has dispatched two teams to the two counties to oversee relief work.

"We are further calculating losses," said Zhu, who is in Lhozhag.

The tremor was also felt in the Tibet regional capital of Lhasa Monday afternoon, local residents said.