7.5 magnitude earthquake strongly felt in China’s Xinjiang

A powerful 7.5 earthquake that jolted Afghanistan, Pakistan and India today was also strongly felt in parts of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Residents of Kashgar, Hotan, Aksu and Kizilsu in southern Xinjiang felt the quake and many ran out of their homes.

“First, we felt a minor quake and then a strong one. People rushed out of their buildings to open ground,” Kashgar resident Feng Zhuoyi said, adding that she felt dizzy when the tremor struck.

However, there have been no reports of casualties or collapsed houses in Xinjiang, fire service officials told state-run Xinhua new agency.

At least 105 people were killed and over 1,000 others injured today as a strong 7.5 earthquake rocked northern Pakistan.

The quake’s epicentre was located near Jurm in northeast Afghanistan, 250 kilometres from Kabul and at a depth of 213.5 kms, according to the US Geological Survey.

Xinjiang is an autonomous territory in northwest China and has a vast region of deserts and mountains. It is home to many ethnic minority groups, including the Turkic Uyghur people.