BEIJING, July 3 -- A quake in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Friday morning has caused two deaths in the epicenter county as of 10 a.m., China Earthquake Administration said.

The administration also issued a level-II emergency response to the quake.

A 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit Xinjiang's Hotan Prefecture, said the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

The quake rocked Pishan County at 9:07 a.m., with epicenter monitored at 37.6 degrees north latitude and 78.2 degrees east longitude. The quake struck at a depth of 10 km, according to the CENC.

Li Hua, a worker at a state-owned farm in Pishan, told Xinhua that he strongly felt the quake at his home on the fourth floor and the jolt lasted about a minute. "I'm feeling dizzy."

Shortly after the quake, several minor quakes measuring between 3.0 and 4.6 magnitude rocked the area, according to the CENC.

Located at the southernmost part of Xinjiang, Pishan is about 1,800 kilometers away from the regional capital of Urumqi and covers 39,700 square kilometers.

With a population of 258,000, the county is mainly inhabited by Uygur ethnic minorities.