1st Ld: Earthquakes Jolt South China Sea

1st Ld: Earthquakes jolt South China Sea

BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — Two earthquakes — the first measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale at 8:26 p.m. and the second measuring 6.7 at 8:34 p.m. — hit the South China Sea on Tuesday.

The national earthquake observation network said the epicenter was located at 21.9 degrees north latitude and 120.6 degrees east longitude, said the China Seismological Bureau.

The epicenter was about 350 kilometers from the mainland and 15 kilometers from Taiwan.

Strong quakes were felt in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shantou cities in Guangdong and Fujian provinces as well as Hong Kong and Macao, but no damage or casualty reports are available.

The bureau estimated the quakes would not have caused great damage since the epicenter was far from the mainland.

Local governments and seismological departments in the affected areas are releasing the information on the quakes to the public through the media, according to the bureau.

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