Tibetan county jolted by three earthquakes

Beijing: Three moderate earthquakes jolted a county in Tibet on Tuesday, though no casualties were reported, official media reported.

There have been no casualties reported following three earthquakes including a 5.0-magnitude earthquake in a county in southwest Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The 5.0-magnitude earthquake jolted Gerze County in Ali Prefecture at 2:12 a.m. Tuesday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre.

Later on, the county was struck again by a 3.7-magnitude quake and a 3.4-magnitude one.

Sonam Daje, deputy head of the county’s civil affairs bureau, said a preliminary investigation found no casualties, and no houses collapsed so far.

“The epicentre is around a village in Gerze. Most people were asleep when the earthquakes occurred, and tremors were not strongly felt by the residents in the county seat,” said Hu Haibo, director of the county’s poverty relief office.

Gerze is the largest county featuring animal husbandry industry in Ali, with an average altitude of over 4,500 metres.