No info on 9 Filipinos in quake-hit China province

No Filipino was hurt in the series of earthquakes that jolted China's western province of Qinghai on Wednesday, but Philippine officials have yet to receive information on the whereabouts of the nine Filipinos there. "Pinipilit nating makakuha ng impormasyon sa ating mga contact sa local police at dito rin sa Beijing, sa Ministry of Foreign Affairs," said Philippine vice consul Noel Novicio in an interview over radio dzMM. (We’re trying to get information from our contacts in local police here and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing.) He said they are getting most of their information from the media and the police. Nine Filipinos were registered in Qinghai as of 2008. Novicio could not state their specific jobs but said most Filipinos in China are employed as teachers and musicians. At least 400 people were reportedly killed when a 6.9 quake (US Geological Survey) struck an area in southern Qinghai, near Tibet, Wednesday morning and followed by several aftershocks. The epicenter of the first quake was located 235 miles (380 kilometers) south-southeast of Golmud, a large city in Qinghai, at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), the USGS said. Xinhua cited officials at the China Earthquake Networks Center as saying at least 18 aftershocks have been reported and that more temblors exceeding magnitude 6 were likely to occur in the coming days. — Aie Balagtas See/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV