An earthquake of magnitude 7.2 on the Richter scale struck Tajikistan at around 8:37 a.m. (0037 GMT), at a depth of 10 km (6 miles), reported Chinese state television CCTV on Thursday. The epicentre was located about 82 kilometres from the nearest border with China and was strongly felt in Kashgar and Artux in the western part of the Xinjiang region, CCTV reported.


As per the report, the average elevation within 5 km of the epicentre is about 4,655 metres (15,300 feet).