Overview
- Two moderate earthquakes hit Xinghai county on Tuesday, with the China Earthquake Networks Centre recording a magnitude 5.7 at 11:16 a.m. local time and a magnitude 5.8 eighteen minutes later.
- Both events were reported at a shallow focal depth of 10 km and were located about 244 km from the provincial capital Xining.
- Germany’s GEOFON and other monitoring networks said the shallow depths raise the chance of stronger shaking close to the epicentre.
- Chinese authorities gave no immediate reports of casualties or damage and national and international agencies continue to monitor and assess the area.
- Qinghai is sparsely populated but seismically active, so localised damage is possible near the epicentres and officials will be watching for aftershocks and ground-impact reports.