Beijing, May 16 (Xinhua) There had been no minor quakes in the area around the epicentre of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in China's southwestern province of Sichuan May 12, the provincial seismological bureau said Friday.

Therefore, the earthquake could not be forecast, a senior official of the bureau said.
He said no typical earthquake precursors were detected in the short period before May 12 and the activity level of quakes around the area was reported to be low.