Strong quakes rock western China

BEIJING, March 21 (UPI) -- A series of earthquakes of up to 7.2 magnitude rocked western China Friday but reports of damage were not immediately available.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quakes were felt in the Xinjiang-Xizang region, east-north-east from India and Pakistan.

Xinhua news agency, quoting the Chinese Seismological Network which uses the Richter measurement, reported four quakes Friday morning initially rocked the Kunlun Mountain region with the strongest measuring 7.3 on the Richter. The report said a subsequent fifth quake was detected in Yutian County in southwest China's Xinjiang Uygur region.

Other quakes ranged from 5 and 5.2 on the Richter scale, the report said.

One official told Xinhua the quakes affected the towns Aqqan and Bostan with a total population of about 13,400.

"The jolts occurred in the early morning in the mountainous region sparsely populated by people of ethnic groups, mainly Uygur. There were no immediate reports of casualties," the official was quoted as saying.