USGS retracts false quake alert issued for Nevada

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on Thursday withdrew a previously issued quake alert near Dayton in the U.S. state of Nevada, saying the notification had been sent in error.

The USGS said earlier a 5.9-magnitude quake struck 6 km east of Dayton at 1606 GMT on Thursday, adding that the epicenter, with a depth of 8 km, was initially determined to be at 39.24 degrees north latitude and 119.52 degrees west longitude.

However, in a later statement, the USGS said the alert was "incorrect."

The USGS said the alert originated from its automatic earthquake detection system, which had erroneously generated the report. A geophysicist at the agency said it was likely the first time the USGS had issued a quake report that was completely bogus.

"The ShakeAlert EEW (Earthquake Early Warning) system released an incorrect alert for a magnitude 5.9 earthquake near Reno and Carson City, Nevada," the agency said in a post on its website.

"The event did not occur and has been deleted from USGS websites and data feeds," the agency said, adding that it is working to determine the cause of the false alert.

USGS retracts false quake alert issued for Nevada

A new batch of historical records unveiling the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese army in the 1937 Nanjing Massacre was released at a ceremony held on Friday in a museum in east China's Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province.

The massacre following the Japanese troops' capture of Nanjing, the then Chinese capital, on Dec 13, 1937, left more than 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers dead.

Friday's ceremony in the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders was just held days before the 88th anniversary of the one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.

The released historical records include letters of Japanese soldiers, photos taken after the occupation of Nanjing by the invading Japanese army, archival records of military medics who died in the defense of Nanjing, and the English and French periodicals.

Analysts say the newly released historical records provide irrefutable evidence for restoring the truth of history and constitute a powerful rebuttal to the claims of the Japanese right-wing forces.

China releases new findings on Nanjing Massacre