Quakes Hit Asia, Killing Over 100

A WSJ NEWS ROUNDUP

Two powerful earthquakes hit Central Asia, killing more than 100 people and causing widespread damage.

The 6.6-magnitude quakes struck near the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on Sunday and in Tibet on Monday.

Getty Images

A Kyrgyz man cries at the site of a major earthquake in Nura, Kyrgyzstan, on October 6, 2008.

In Kyrgyzstan, the village of Nura was completely destroyed, emergency officials said, reporting 72 deaths and dozens of injuries. It was followed by a 5.1-magnitude quake on Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

China's official Xinhua news agency said at least 30 people died in the Tibet quake, with a number of people buried in debris.

Victims were found in Gedar township of Damxung County, about 50 miles west of the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

Traffic and telecommunications were cut off in Gedar, while soldiers and medical staff were rushing to the site.

Deaths and injuries were also reported in a neighboring county, but the exact number was unclear.

Brian Baptie, a seismologist at the British Geological Survey based in Edinburgh, Scotland, said the quakes in Kyrgyzstan and Tibet appeared unrelated.