Strong China quake rattles east Asia
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- An earthquake capable of causing major damage shook central China Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
It registered a magnitude of 7.5, the survey said.
"This is a very dangerous earthquake," said Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake has the potential to cause major damage because of its strength and proximity to major population centers, he said. The epicenter is about 62 miles (100 km) from Chengdu, a city of about two million people, in the eastern part of China's Sichuan province.
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.
The ground shook in 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.
"Our building began to sway," he said.
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.
There were no immediate reports about the extent of damage or casualties from the earthquake, which happened at 2:28 p.m. local time (2:28 a.m. ET.)
Strong China quake rattles east Asia - CNN.com