Shanghai feels impact of earthquake in Sichuan
2008-5-12
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan Province at 2:28pm today and the temblor was felt thousands of kilometers away in cities such as Shanghai and Beijing.
The strong quake rocked Wenchuan County, which is less than 100 km from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan.
It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties or damage.
The earthquake, centered 92 km northwest of Chengdu, was felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai, where office buildings swayed due to the powerful earthquake.
The Sichuan temblor caused a 3.9-magnitude earthquake in Beijing's Tongzhou District at 2:35pm, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the China Earthquake Administration.
Shanghai Daily reporters and other staff members were caught by surprise this afternoon when they felt their 38th floor office move on Weihai Road in Jing'an District.
"I felt dizzy for a few seconds and at first thought it was just me," said Marc Tessier, 37, a copy editor at Shanghaidaily.com. "A couple of interns then asked me if I felt the building move. It was strange and a bit scary. I never felt a building move before."
People got up from their desks and were talking excitedly, and nervously. Some colleagues even left the building, Tessier said.
The copy editor said he asked a reporter to start making some phone calls right away to find out what happened.
It was a few minutes later that our reporter learned of the earthquake in Sichuan Province.
