China jolted: 6.8 quake hits Wuqia county

Beijing: A strong earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale hit northwest China's Wuqia county on Monday but there was no report of any casualty.

The epicentre of the earthquake was located in Wuqia, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, with source of the quake 33 km underground, the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the National Seismological Network as saying on Monday.

Residents in Kashi also felt the strong earthquake, it said, adding there was no reports of casualties so far. Wuqia is located in the Pamirs, in the southwestern part of Xinjiang, and at the conjunction of the southern side of the Tianshan Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains.

Wuqia, 1,500 kilometers away from Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang, was hit by a 3.8 magnitude earthquake on September 22 and a 5.8 magnitude quake on December 25, 2002.