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Instant earthquake news on Twitter

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in eastern Sichuan Province at 2:28pm earlier today, according to this report on the U.S. government's earthquake site.

According to information from Twitter.com users in China, the quake has been felt in many places across the country (see screenshot), including Beijing.

Many office buildings in Beijing's central business district have just been evacuated.

The Beijing Earthquake Bureau's website is not currently loading.

Comments with further information are welcome.

Update:

From Reuters:

Strong earthquake hits southwest China

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck China's Sichuan province on Monday, less than 100 km (60 miles) from the provincial capital of Chengdu, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site.

The tremor, centered 92 km northwest of Chengdu, was felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai, where office buildings swayed with the impact.

LG Towers in Beijing's CBD, evacuated - 15:03

Update 2:

Xinhua is reporting that the Sichuan quake was 7.8 on the Richter scale, and giving a magnitude of 3.9 to a quake centered in Tongzhou, on the outskirts of Beijing city (English link).

MeMedia has a page for the earthquake here, Sina.com has one here (both in Chinese).

More Info:

• Global Voices Online: Video and netizen comments
• Shanghaiist: Continuous updates, including reports of collapsed buildings in Yunnan
• tbjblog: reports from Beijing
• Newsweek Countdown China blog: Melinda Liu muses on superstition and earthquakes