An earthquake yesterday rocked China’s western Xinjiang region, killing eight people and injuring 23 as more than 1,500 homes crumbled, state media reported.
The shallow magnitude 5.4 quake struck at 5:58am, 213km south-southwest of the city of Kashgar, the US Geological Survey said.
The city is notable for being a stop on the Karakoram Highway, built along the ancient Silk Road connecting China’s far-western city of Kashgar to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
Photo: Reuters
Xinhua news agency said there had been frequent aftershocks.
The Xinjiang Earthquake Administration said 23 people had been injured, including one seriously, and more than 180 houses had collapsed in the lightly populated area.
Most houses in the area were made of wood and mudbricks or rock, it said.
Some people were buried after their adobe homes collapsed, said Wang Fuyou (王福友), Chinese Communist Party chief of Taxkorgan County, according to Xinhua.
Rescuers were searching for people trapped in the rubble in Quzgun, the worst-hit village, which has a population of 449, Wang said.
More than 1,500 homes collapsed in Quzgun, Xinhua said.
More than 9,000 people were relocated in the region, while 1,000 soldiers and 1,500 civilians were participating in rescue efforts, it said.
Xinhua said the injured people were taken to hospitals.
The People’s Daily posted a photograph on Twitter of a building in complete ruins.
Other photos, all from the earthquake administration, showed ceiling panels on the ground in one building and products on the floor in a store.
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