BEIJING (Reuters) - A strong earthquake measuring 6.5 hit a sparsely populated area in China’s western province of Qinghai Monday, but there were no reports of deaths or injuries.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) originally put the magnitude of the quake at 6.7 but quickly revised it down to 6.5. China’s Xinhua news agency put the magnitude of the tremor at 6.3.
Buildings shook in the remote mining city of Golmud and the regional capital, Xining.
State television said there had been no reports of deaths or injuries.
“We are on the tenth floor, so I felt a very strong tremor 10 minutes ago, but there’s been no damage,” said a Xining government official who only gave her surname, Wang.
The USGS said the epicenter of the quake was 161 km (101 miles)) north-northeast of Golmud at a depth of 9.9 km. Golmud is an industrial city that is dependent upon potassium mining.
Xinhua said some mud houses in Da Qaidam, near the epicentre, had cracks in their walls and a few huts had collapsed. Schools have also been closed.
Seven mining firms in the immediate vicinity had shut as a safety precaution, the Xinhua news agency said, listing coal mines and a base metals mine.
An official at the province’s largest lead-zinc miner, Western Mining, said the company had not received any reports of damage at its mines.
Map highlighting Qinghai province. 
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), an earthquake with magnitude of 6.5 has struck China. ''Xinhua'', one of China's main news agencies, reports the quake at a magnitude of 6.3.

According to the USGS, the quake was centered 55 kilometers (35 miles) East, Southeast of Da Qaidam, Qinghai province and was reported at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles). It struck at approximately 9:22 a.m local time on Monday morning. 

Although there have been no immediate reports of damage or injuries, the USGS says damage in the area could be "very heavy". The shaking was felt as far away as Golmud, and Xining, where witnesses say buildings shook, but there was no damage.  This is adjacent to Tibet Autonomous Region and just at the foothills of Tibetan Plateau.

The Da Qaidam region is an area of China where there are several launch sites for DF-4 nuclear missiles. At least two nuclear missiles are reported to be stored in the Da Qaidam Basin and were deployed there in 1998. Da Qaidam is one of five locations throughout China where launch sites exist. There is no word if the sites suffered any damage from the quake.