Tremors felt in Delhi-NCR after 7.1 magnitude earthquake jolts China's Xinjiang region

A strong magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Southern Xinjiang, China on Tuesday, according to the National Center for Seismology. Strong tremors were felt across Delhi-NCR region.

"An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter Scale hit Southern Xinjiang, China today at 11.39 pm," said NCS. According to the NCS, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 80 kilometres.



Notably, this earthquake comes a month after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake in China's Gansu and neighbouring Qinghai provinces killed at least 131 people.

The Global Times reported, quoting Gansu officials, that more than 87,000 people were evacuated and moved to safe places.

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.


(With agency inputs)