A severe earthquake has hit the border region of Russia, China and North Korea Thursday morning, dpa quoted news reports and the US Geological Survey as saying. The epicenter of the quake, which measured magnitude 6.9 on the Richter scale, was located 110 kilometers south-west of Russia's Vladivostok, the Interfax news agency said. The US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.7, adding that the quake occurred at 0113 GMT at a depth of 562 kilometers. China's official Xinhua news agency reported that the quake was barely felt in areas of the north-eastern province of Jilin that were close to the epicenter. Most local residents in the border district of Yanbian and the nearby cities of Changchun and Hunchun said they did not feel the quake, the agency reported. Because of the depth of the tremor, no damage was expected at ground level, it quoted experts as saying. The Jilin provincial government had received no reports of casualties, it said. Officials in Vladivostok said there had been no casualties or damage on Russian territory. No information was available from North Korea. The quake's epicenter was located 111 kilometers north-east of Chongjin.
