No casualties reported in Tibet quake

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No casualties have been reported since an earthquake shook Tibet on Monday morning, although houses were destroyed and roads damaged, according to the local government.

At 5:23 a.m., a 6.1-magnitude quake jolted the border region of Zogang County and Markam County in Qamdo Prefecture, some 1,000 km southeast of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region.

"We felt strong tremors in the county seat when the quake took place, and damage has been seen to houses and roads, but I have received no immediate reports of casualties," Zhang Hongjun, Communist Party of China chief of Zogang, told Xinhua in a phone call.

However, Zhang said he was worried about the villagers in Ringo, a mountainous town with a population of 3,476. It is located at the epicenter of the quake, about 75 km away from the county seat of Zogang.

"It will take us more time to figure out the situation there, as eight of the 12 villages in Ringo are not accessible by telecommunications or highway, so the rescuers have to go there on foot," Zhang said.

As of 3:30 p.m., the earthquake had destroyed 21 residential buildings and damaged 17 others in the seriously-affected Temtog Township in Zogang County, according to the county's emergency office.

The quake was also felt in the neighboring Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Deqen in south China's Yunnan Province, and the local government is investigating relevant damage.

The Tibet military area command under the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has initiated emergency response.

It has assembled 350 soldiers, medical staff and members of the militia to rescue and relocate affected people and to inspect affected buildings in quake-hit areas.

The government of Qamdo Prefecture has also dispatched a rescue team to affected areas.

Aftershocks have continued to shake the quake-hit area, with the strongest measuring 5.1 magnitude.

The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENE) recorded a 4.7-magnitude quake in Zogang County at 4:09 p.m., while the U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude at 5.0.

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