British seismologist explains cause of earthquake in Sichuan

Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China 

    LONDON, May 12 (Xinhua) -- A magnitude 7.8 earthquake which occurred on Monday in China's Sichuan province appears to have been due to thrusting on a NE-SW fault, a seismoligist here said.

    "Today's earthquake appears to have been due to thrusting on a NE-SW fault," Dr Brian Baptie at British Geological Survey (BGS) told Xinhua in an telephone interview.

    The epicenter was in the mountains of the Eastern Margin of Qing-Tibet Plateau and the tectonics are related to the India-Tibet collision and subsequent extrusion, the BGS Seismic Monitoring and Information Service Project leader explained.

    The seismologist held the view that earthquakes of this size have the potential to cause extensive damage and loss of life many tens of kilometers from the epicenter, though damage in Chengdu was slight.

    China frequently suffers large and deadly earthquakes, he noted, citing for example that the 1933 August 25 Diexi earthquake, occurred about 90 kilometers NNE of today's earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.5, destroying the town of Diexi and surrounding villages, and causing many landslides, some of which dammed the rivers.

    Baptie warned that landslides may likely for today's earthquake.

    According to latest reports, over 7,651 people have been killed by the earthquake in Sichuan province, which occurred 92 kilometers northwest of the city of Chengdu in Sichuan province and over 1,500 kilometers from Beijing where it was strongly felt.