A strong earthquake has hit the northwestern Chinese province of Qinghai.

The magnitude 6.5 quake struck at 09:22am local time (01:22GMT) on Monday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

There have been no immediate reports of damage or casualties, but the area where the earthquake hit is believed to be sparsely populated.

According to the USGS the quake epicentre was located at a point 1,800km west of Beijing, the Chinese capital, at a depth of 10km.

Reports said that buildings in the provincial capital, Xining, were shaken but no damage was reported.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency said some mud houses near the epicentre had cracks in their walls and several huts had collapsed, but there were no reports of injuries.

Several schools in the area were closed as a precaution, the agency said.

In May a magnitude 7.9 earthquake hit the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, killing at estimated 70,000 people and flattening scores of towns and villages.

Many of the dead were children, buried under the rubble of collapsed school buildings.

Many parents of the dead children have complained that the schools were built of substandard materials or by contractors who cut corners and ignored building safety regulations.

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto: