Powerful earthquake strikes Tibet: officials

BEIJING (AFP) — An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale shook a sparsely populated area of China's mountainous Tibetan region on Wednesday, Chinese authorities said.

The quake struck in Gaize county around 4:30 pm (0830 GMT) about 550 kilometres (350 miles) northwest of Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, the regional seismological bureau and the China Earthquake Administration reported.

"We have no staff stationed in this area as no people live there," an official from the Tibetan Seismological Bureau told AFP. No casualties were immediately reported.

While the Chinese officials said the quake measured 6.9 on the Richter scale, the United States Geological Survey said the quake was 6.3 on its Mw scale.

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