6.8 earthquake shakes lightly populated part of Tajikistan

BEIJING (AP) — A 6.8 magnitude earthquake shook a lightly populated, remote part of Tajikistan early Thursday near China’s far western Xinjiang region. It was 41 miles west of Murghob, Tajikistan and 12 miles deep, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Mughrob is the district capital with a population of a few thousand people high in the Pamir Mountains. China’s seismologists said the quake was 7.2 magnitude and 6 miles deep. Preliminary seismic measurements by different agencies often differ. Further information was not immediately available.