"Remote Western China Hit by 7.1 Magnitude Earthquake, State Media Reports"

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck a remote part of China's western Xinjiang region, with no immediate reports of damage or fatalities. The quake occurred in a rural area populated mostly by Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnicity that has been the target of a state campaign of forced assimilation and mass detention in recent years. Aftershocks have been reported, and tremors were felt in neighboring countries. The region is experiencing frigid temperatures, and authorities are monitoring the situation closely following a deadly earthquake in China's northwestern Gansu province in December.