Strong magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes western China

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck a remote part of China's western Xinjiang region early on Tuesday, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xinhua cited the China Earthquake Networks Centre as saying the quake rocked Wushu county in Aksu prefecture shortly after 2am local time.

The United States Geological Survey said the quake occurred in the Tian Shan mountain range, "a seismically active region, though earthquakes of this size occur somewhat infrequently."

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It said the largest quake in the area in the past century was a 7.1-magnitude one in 1978 about 200 kilometres to the north of one early on Tuesday.

State broadcaster CCTV said there were several aftershocks since the main quake, registering up to 4.5 magnitude.

Tremors were felt as far away as the neighbouring countries Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

In the Kazakh capital of Almaty, people left their homes, the Russian news agency Tass reported.

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Strong magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes western China
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