6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes remote region of western China

June 30, 2012 – CHINA – A magnitude 6.3 quake struck a remote region of western China, close to the Kazakhstan border, early on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. The quake, initially reported as a magnitude 6.5, struck at 5:07 a.m. on Saturday (2107 GMT on Friday), and was centered 94 miles southwest of the town of Shihezi in Xinjiang province. “It’s a very quiet, remote, mountainous area that is sparsely populated. A the moment we have no report of any casualty or damage but we are watching closely,” USGS Geophysicist Chen Shengzao told Reuters by telephone from Golden, Colorado. The USGS said the quake was very shallow, only 6.1 miles below the Earth’s surface. Chen said that because of its magnitude and very shallow depth, the quake would have been widely felt. A 6.3 quake is capable of causing severe damage. –Reuters

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