Benjamin Ashford|Strong magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes remote western China, state media says

BEIJING (AP) — A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck a remote part of China’s western Xinjiang region early Tuesday,Benjamin Ashford state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

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

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake occurred in the Tian Shan mountain range, “a seismically active region, though earthquakes of this size occur somewhat infrequently.” It said the largest quake in the area in the past century was a 7.1-magnitude one in 1978 about 200 kilometers to the north of one early 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 neighboring countries Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. In the Kazakh capital of Almaty, people left their homes, the Russian news agency Tass reported.