BEIJING -- A powerful earthquake struck a sparsely populated area of China's far western region of Xinjiang on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if it caused any casualties or significant damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude-6.9 quake was centred 268 kilometres (167 miles) east-southeast of Hotan at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles). The China Earthquake Networks Center measured the quake at magnitude 7.3 and said it was followed by at least seven smaller quakes within the following half hour.
The epicenter was in Yutian county, a mountainous area several thousand meters above sea level on the edge of the Taklamakan desert. A magnitude-7.2 quake in that area in March 2008 collapsed some houses but caused no injuries.
China Earthquake Networks Center researcher Sun Shihong said any casualties from Wednesday's quake would likely be low.
The director of the Yutian Civil Affairs Bureau, Zhang Chong, said officials were still gathering information. A police officer in Yutian said he had felt tremors shaking the police station and ran outside.
Wang Gang, a fire brigade chief in Yutian County, told the national CCTV broadcaster he was heading from the county seat to the earthquake zone, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) away, with a team of police and firefighters.
China's worst earthquake in recent years was a magnitude-7.9 temblor that struck the southwestern province of Sichuan in 2008, leaving about 90,000 people dead or missing.
