A magnitude-6.5 earthquake rocked southern Xinjiang province, China, on Friday morning, local time.

Four people died and another 48 were injured, according to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.

The temblor occurred at 9:07 a.m. local time (9:07 p.m. EDT Thursday). The quake had a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) reported.

The epicentre of the quake is close to Pishan County. Minor aftershocks were said to have hit the region.

More than 6 million people are in the affected area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

There were two aftershocks, magnitudes 4.6 and 4.5, immediately after the initial quake, the CENC reported.

* China Xinhua News