"In the eastern part of the region where Asia and India collide, the Tibetan plateau is pushing southeast against the flat Sichuan basin. 'It’s definitely a seismic area,' said Julie Martinez, a geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center in Boulder, Colo.
"On Monday afternoon, an upward thrust fault broke, generating an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.9. An aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 followed 15 minutes later, and smaller aftershocks continue in the area." [NYTimes, "Disaster Set Off by Colliding Land Masses," by Kenneth Chang, May 13]
Tens of thousands of Chinese are feared dead.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
No comments:
Post a Comment