Update: The China Earthquake Network Center reported the Uqturpan earthquake was responsible for injuring six people and damaging more than 120 homes. Hundreds of emergency responders have delivered thousands of blankets, bedding supplies, and stoves to the region, where temperatures dipped below zero. No deaths have been reported.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near the Kyrgyzstan-China border just after midnight local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Reports of light shaking are coming in from as from far as Delhi, India, more than 1,000 kilometers from the epicenter. The USGS estimates the quake struck at a relatively shallow 13-kilometer depth.
USGS Did You Feel It? reports, which are reports of shaking submitted by individuals, indicate light to moderate shaking was felt in eastern Kyrgyzstan and southeastern Kazakhstan. Closer to the epicenter, reports indicate very strong to severe shaking was felt. The USGS PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response) system, which rapidly estimates exposure and damage from earthquake shaking, suggests some fatalities and moderate economic losses may be expected.
Seismometers around central Asia recorded the traveling seismic waves.
The epicenter was located along the southern edge of the remote Tien Shan mountains.
The Tien Shan is a group of roughly northeast–southwest-oriented mountain ranges bordering the Tarim Basin, a low-lying sedimentary basin occupying a large part of western China. The ranges, initially uplifted in the Paleozoic, now accommodate far-field stress from the collision of India and Asia.
The USGS estimates the quake struck on an oblique thrust fault, which is consistent with the tectonics of the region.
Intracontinental earthquakes such as this one are common in Asia. The Kyrgyzstan-China border is likely to experience aftershocks in the coming days and weeks.
—Jennifer Schmidt (@DrJenGEO), Managing Editor