World Tibet Network News Wednesday, May 13, 1998

BEIJING, May 13 (Reuters) - An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale rocked a mountainous region in northwestern China on Wednesday, but did not cause any casualties, seismologists and the official Xinhua news agency said.

The tremor hit Tibet's border region with Xinjiang at 12.53 a.m. (1653 GMT Tuesday), Xinhua said.

The State Seismological Bureau said no casualties have been reported in the sparsely populated region.

A series of moderate tremors rocked the area last year.

Chinese seismologists have warned that several powerful earthquakes measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale or greater could strike the country this century.

China suffered the worst earthquake in modern history in 1976, when a quake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale levelled the northern city of Tangshan, killing at least 240,000 people.