Strong China quake rattles east Asia

An earthquake capable of causing major damage shook central China on Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

据美国地质局消息，周一在中国中部地区发生具有重大破坏能力的强烈地震。

People gather outside on a street in Beijing, China, shortly after Monday's earthquake.

在中国北京，人们在周一地震之后聚集在户外的街道上。

It registered a magnitude of 7.5, the survey said.

消息称本次地震震级达到7.5级。

Two more earthquakes -- measuring 6.0 and 5.4 magnitudes -- happened nearby over the next hour, the USGS reported.

美国地质局报道在强震发生之后的一个小时内同时发生了震级分别为6.0和5.4级的地震。

China's state-run CCTV reported no serious damage in Chengdu, a city of more than 10 million that is about 60 miles from the epicenter, in the eastern part of China's Sichuan province.

据中国中央电视台报道，地震没有对成都造成严重的破坏。（成都市位于中国四川东部地区，距离地震中心大概60公里，有1千多万人口。）

"This is a very dangerous earthquake," said Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

美国地质局地质学家-布鲁斯·普赖斯格雷夫称：“这是一个非常危险的地震。”

The quake has the potential to cause major damage because of its strength and proximity to major population centers, he said. In addition, the earthquake was relatively shallow, Presgrave said, and those kinds of quakes tend to do more damage near the epicenter than deeper ones.

普赖斯格雷夫称，这次地震有可能造成重大的破坏，因为这次地震震级高、同时又临近人口密集的中心城市。而且这次地震震核较浅，一般来说震核浅的地震会比震核深的地震对震中附近地区造成更多破坏，他补充到。

The ground shook as far away as Beijing, which is 950 miles (1,528km) from the epicenter. They felt "a very quiet rolling sensation" that lasted for about a minute, according to CNN correspondent John Vause.

在离震中1528公里的北京也感到了地面震动。CNN记者约翰·福尔斯称，人们感觉到了持续约1分钟左右的震动感。

"Our building began to sway," he said.

“建筑物发生了摇摆”，他说。

Thousands of people were evacuated from Beijing high rises immediately after the earthquake.

地震后，数以千计的人们从高楼中疏散。

The first earthquake happened at 2:28 p.m. local time (2:28 a.m. ET), the USGS said.

美国地质局称第一次地震发生在当地时间下午2：28分。

The earthquake was also felt in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, and as far away as Hanoi, Vietnam, and Bangkok, Thailand, according to the Hong Kong-based Mandarin-language channel Phoenix TV.

同时据香港的凤凰卫视报道，在香港、上海、台湾已经远在越南的河内、泰国曼谷都有震感。



另：
中新网5月12日电 据国家地震台网测定，北京时间5月12日14时28分，在四川汶川县(北纬31度，东经103.4度)发生7.6级地震(编者注：据央视最新消息，地震震级为7.8级)。

据中央电视台消息，重庆、山西、陕西、湖北、北京、南京、上海等地都有震感。

四川汶川发生7.8级强地震专题>>

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