Breaking news: Strong 6.6-magnitude quake hits China

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck China's remote northwestern Qinghai province early Saturday, the US Geological Survey said.

The epicentre of the quake, which struck at about 1:45 am (1745 GMT) at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres (six miles), was located about 140 kilometres north-northwest of the city of Xining, US seismologists said.