Death toll from northwest China quake reaches nearly 2,700

The death toll from an earthquake that rocked a remote part of China in April has risen to nearly 2,700, with 270 people still listed as missing, state media reported Monday.

The 6.9-magnitude quake struck on April 14, flattening thousands of homes in the ethnically Tibetan region of Yushu in Qinghai province, in the country's northwest.

The death toll of 2,698 was up sharply from the just over 2,200 reported dead in late April.

It was not immediately clear how the toll was calculated, but earlier reports said that more than 12,000 people were injured in the quake.

China National Radio said 2,537 of the victims were residents of Yushu, where more than 90 percent of the population is ethnically Tibetan, 54 of the dead were from other places in Qinghai and 96 were from other parts of China.

Eleven victims remain unidentified, it said, adding that 199 school students were among those killed.

earlier related report
Strong quake hits Andaman Islands: seismologists
New Delhi (AFP) June 1, 2010 - A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit off India's Andaman Islands early Tuesday, seismologists said, but no widespread tsunami was expected.

The quake struck at a depth of 127 kilometres (80 miles), said the US Geological Survey (USGS), with the epicentre 120 kilometres from Port Blair on the Andaman Islands, which are located in the Bay of Bengal.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was a very small possibility of a local tsunami near the centre but no threat of a destructive widespread tsunami.

Myanmar lies to the north of the Andaman Islands and Indonesia to the south.

New Delhi is more than 2,500 kilometres away to the northwest.

The Andamans were badly hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami, which was triggered by an earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra that sent giant waves crashing into countries around the Indian Ocean.