7.2 magnitude earthquake hits China-Tajikistan border

By Emre Aytekin

BEIJING (AA) - An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 jolted the China-Tajikistan border early Thursday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

CENC said the quake occurred near the border between the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwestern China and the mountainous Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in eastern Tajikistan.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported the magnitude of the earthquake as 6.8 and said the epicenter was 67 kilometers (41.6 miles) west of the town of Murghob on the Tajikistan side of the border.