A powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Tuesday (local time) at a depth of just 13 kilometers along the China-Kyrgyz border, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, warning of potentially significant damage, AFP and News.ro reported.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7 occurred in Kyrgyzstan. In the capital, Bishkek, people came out of their houses and into the streetsPhoto: AA/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia

The earthquake was recorded just after 2:00 a.m. local time (Monday, 8:00 p.m. Romanian time), at a depth of 13 kilometers, in China’s Xinjiang region, west of the city of Aksu and 129 km west-northwest of Aikola.

Soon after, three more earthquakes of magnitude 5.5, 5.1 and 5.0 were recorded in the area.

The US Geological Survey said casualties were possible, although there were no immediate reports of casualties in the mountainous and rural area where the quake struck. “Extensive damage is likely to occur, and the natural disaster is potentially widespread,” the USGS report said.

Last week, the same Xinjiang region, China’s largest and home to the Uyghur minority, was hit by heavy snowfall that stranded 1,000 tourists in a picturesque mountain village.

In the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, people left their homes to shelter in the streets after the quake caused walls to sway and furniture to move, an AFP reporter said.

Also, local TV channels in the capital of India, New Delhi, reported strong earthquakes in the city, located approximately 1,400 kilometers away.

Authorities in Kazakhstan also reported earthquakes, but so far no casualties or major damage. In Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, citizens also took to the streets en masse, some in only pajamas and bathrobes, according to images posted on social media and local news agencies.

Tuesday’s earthquake came a day after a landslide buried dozens of people and killed at least eight in southwestern China.

An earthquake in the northwest of the country in December killed 148 people and displaced thousands from their homes in Gansu province. It was China’s deadliest earthquake since 2014, when more than 600 people were killed in the southwestern Yunnan province. During the earthquake in December, sub-zero temperatures made relief operations even more difficult as survivors huddled around open fires to keep warm.