A strong 6.8 magnitude earthquake on Thursday shook the remote and largely uninhabited Sakha region in Russia's Far East, ITAR-TASS quoted the local emergency ministry service as saying.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from the quake, whose epicentre was recorded 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of the village of Ust-Nera.

The quake struck 10 kilometres (six miles) below ground at 5:13 Moscow time, the Sakha emergency ministry said.