China Hit By Strong 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake

March 21, 2008 10:07 a.m. EST

Beijing, China (AHN) - A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit a remote area of China, between Xinjiang and the Tibet regions early Friday and was followed by aftershocks ranging from 5.0 to 5.2 magnitude, United States and Chinese earthquake monitoring agencies said.

The villagers felt the tremor at 6:33 a.m. local time on Friday. Its epicenter was 140 miles southeast of Hotan City.

The quake rocked many buildings and forced the evacuation of families from one village. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the sparsely populated area, state media said.

A magnitude-5.3 aftershock followed 17 minutes later, a magnitude-5.5 aftershock 22 minutes after that and another at magnitude 5.2 about an hour later, it said.

In 2003, similar earthquake hit the region in 2003. The tremor had a 6.8 magnitude on the Richter scale and hit western Xinjiang killing at least 260 people and destroying about 10,000 homes.