Sichuan quake magnitude raised to 8.0 from 7.8

19 May 2008 03:39  [Source: ICIS news]

SHANGHAI (ICIS news)--The severity of the massive earthquake that shook Sichuan in southwest China last week has been raised to 8.0 from 7.8 on the Richter scale  by the China Seismological Bureau, Xinhua news said late on Sunday.

As a mark of respect for the victims, China has declared the three days from 19 May to be days of national mourning and suspended the Olympics torch relay during the period.

As of 14:00 local time (0600 GMT) on Sunday, 32,477 people are known to have been killed in devastating earthquake that occurred last Monday while another 220,109 were injured.

China's Securities Regulatory Commission said Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Shanghai Futures Exchange, Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange and Dalian Commodity Exchange would close market (trading) for three minutes starting from 14:28 hours on 19 May.

By: Judith Wang
+65 6780 4359

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