Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China     

    BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhua) -- A major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck Wenchuan county in China's southwestern province of Sichuan on Monday, leaving at least 12,000 people dead and thousands more injured.

    The following is a chronology of massive earthquakes around the world since 2003:

    2003:

    Feb. 24 -- A quake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale left 268 people dead in Jiashi and Bachu counties of China's western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

    May 21 -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 on the Richter scale struck northern Algeria, killing some 2,300 people and injuring over 10,000 others.

    Dec. 26 -- An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale rocked the ancient city of Bam in Kerman province of southeastern Iran, killing some 26,000 people.

    2004:

    Feb. 24 -- A strong quake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale hit the Al Hoceima region of northern Morocco, leaving 628 people dead and 926 injured.

    Dec. 26 -- A powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale struck off Indonesia's Sumatra and caused a tsunami, leaving more than 200,000 people dead or missing and hundreds of thousands homeless.

    2005:

    Feb. 22 -- A quake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale jolted the Zarand region of Kerman province in southeastern Iran, killing more than 600 people and injuring nearly 1,000.

    March 28 -- A major earthquake, measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale, struck off Indonesia's Sumatra, killing more than 900 people.

    Oct. 8 -- A quake with a magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter scale shocked Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, leaving more than 73,000 people dead and millions of people homeless.

    2006:

    May 27 -- An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale struck Indonesia's Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces, leaving at least 6,000 people dead, about 20,000 injured and 200,000 homeless.

    July 17 -- At least 654 people were killed and 978 injured, with 329 missing and about 100,000 made homeless in the tsunami triggered by a quake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale that hit off Indonesia's Java island.