(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-05-12 16:28

The strong tremor that struck China's southwestern Sichuan Province, and felt at nearly all Chinese big cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, was put at a depth of 29 kilometres from the surface.

It was happening at a magnitude of 7.5, The US Geologicial Survey said on its website.

It is reported that office buildings in Bangkok, Thailand, more than 2,600 kilometres away, swayed for several minutes on Monday afternoon.

The US Geologicial Survey said on its website (earthquake.usgs.gov) that the quake struck at 2:28 pm Beijing Time at a depth of 29 kms. The agency originally put the strength of the quake at 7.8.

The depth of a 1976 earthquake in Tangshan, North China's Hebei Province was 11 kms below the surface. At least 242,000 people lost their lives in the country's most disastrous earthquake.

Japan's meteorological agency said no warnings for a tsunami has been issued.