County suspends shale gas extraction after quakes

Rongxian county in Sichuan province announced the suspension of shale gas extraction on Monday.

County head Zheng Xiaoqing made the announcement in the wake of public concerns that three earthquakes, each measuring more than magnitude 4.0, had hit the county within two days and might have been caused by shale gas development.

Monday's magnitude-4.9 quake occurred at 1:15 pm. Two people were killed.