Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China

    LONDON, May 12 (Xinhua) -- A magnitude-7.8 earthquake which occurred on Monday in China's southwest Sichuan province appears to have been caused by thrusting on a reverse fault, a seismologist here said.

    "Today's earthquake appears to have been due to thrusting on a NE-SW fault," Dr. Brian Baptie at British Geological Survey (BGS) told Xinhua in an telephone interview.

    The epicenter was in the mountains of the Eastern Margin of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the tectonics are related to the India-Tibet collision and subsequent extrusion, the BGS Seismic Monitoring and Information Service Project leader explained.

    The seismologist said earthquakes of this size have the potential to cause extensive damage and loss of life tens of kilometers from the epicenter.

    The 7.8-magnitude quake jolted Wenchuan County of China's southwestern Sichuan province at 2:28 p.m. (0628 GMT) Monday, claiming thousands of lives in eight affected provinces and municipalities.