Shallow 6.1 magnitude earthquake hits China's Xinjiang province

The tremor struck 51 km south of the city of Shihezi, at a depth of 55 km.

Major earthquake hits China's Xinjiang, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzsthan
People work on the side of a damaged house, after an earthquake hit Hotan area, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, July 3, 2015. A strong earthquake hit a rural part of China's far western Xinjiang region on Friday, killing three people, injuring dozens and destroying or damaging thousands of homes, the government and state media said. Picture taken July 3, 2015. REUTERS

Quake-prone Xinjiang province in China has suffered another medium intensity earthquake. The magnitude 6.1 hit China's far western region on Thursday afternoon local time, US Geological Survey said.

More details are not available as of now but early reports said no immediate damage or casualties have come in yet. The tremor struck 51 km south of the city of Shihezi. The epicentre of the quake was at a depth of 6 km, China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) said.

The CENC said the earthquake, which jolted the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, measured 6.2 magnitude.

The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region suffered a major earthquake measuring between 6.5 and 6.9 magnitude on November 26.

The Xinjiang region sits on a highly active seismic zone which has witnessed 83 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or over have in the past five years.

A devastating 8.0 magnitude earthquake in China's southwestern Sichuan province in May 2008 had killed as many as 80,000 people. More than 600 people died in another temblor in 2014 in the southwest Yunnan province.

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