Magnitude 5 quake hits Tibet, no damage reported

AP[Saturday, August 30, 2008]

BEIJING — A magnitude 5 earthquake struck Tibet on Friday near the border with Nepal, close to an area hit earlier in the week by a stronger quake that damaged hundreds of homes.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from Friday's quake, which hit at 5:43 p.m., with its epicenter located about 240 miles (386 kilometers) northwest of Nepal's capital, Katmandu, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The thinly populated mountainous region is about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) west of Beijing.

On Monday, the USGS reported that an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 hit the Zhongba region in southern Tibet. China's official Xinhua News Agency said schools, a hydropower station, and 622 homes were damaged and about 2,000 people forced to seek temporary shelter. No deaths or injuries were reported and truckloads of aid material and relief funds were sent to the area.

On May 12, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province, just east of Tibet, killed 70,000 people and left 5 million homeless.