Two earthquakes just 14 minutes apart and measuring 5.1 and 5.2 on the Richter scale hit Xigaze in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Wednesday.

No casualties were reported.

The two quakes jolted Zhongba County in Xigaze Prefecture at 9:14 AM and 9:28 AM, China's National Seismological Network reported.

It said the epicenter was 33 kilometers deep and was located at 31.0 degrees north and 83.6 degrees east.

The county government is still assessing the damage in Lunggar Town, the epicenter, and neighboring areas.

Zhongba, a remote county near the China-Nepal border, is more than 4,700 meters above sea level and has a population of 18,000.

The county has suffered many aftershocks after a 6.8-magnitude quake on Aug. 25, the regional earthquake bureau of Tibet said on Wednesday.

It said the previous quake and aftershocks had damaged 305 homes, 301 classrooms and offices and destroyed four power stations in Zhongba and the neighboring county of Saga, causing at least 13 million yuan (US$1.85 million) in direct economic losses.

(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2008)