A 7.1-magnitude earthquake rocked a mountainous and remote part of China’s far western Xinjiang region early Tuesday, claiming the lives of three individuals. State broadcaster CCTV reported an additional five people injured, with 12,426 evacuated from affected areas.
The quake struck Wushi county, also known as Uqturpan county, in Aksu prefecture near the Kyrgyzstan border shortly after 2 a.m. local time, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.
Two houses collapsed, and two major power lines were downed near the epicenter, causing strong tremors. However, electricity was swiftly restored.
Tremors from the earthquake were felt in Central Asian countries hundreds of miles away.
Rescue missions are underway in cold weather, with temperatures expected to drop to minus 23 degrees Celsius (minus 9.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in Wushi county over the next three days, as reported by China’s Meteorological Agency on Tuesday.
The Xinjiang railway authority promptly sealed off routes in the affected areas, suspending 27 trains, according to Xinhua. Three individuals were hospitalized in a township 26 kilometers (16 miles) from the epicenter, and a child was rescued from the rubble of their house, as reported by state broadcaster CCTV.
Over 200 rescue workers have been dispatched to the quake zone, with additional personnel being assembled, Xinhua stated. By 11 a.m. Tuesday, more than 50 aftershocks above magnitude 3 were reported by the state-run China Earthquake Networks Center.
The quake’s epicenter is a remote, mountainous, and sparsely populated area at an altitude above 3,000 meters (9,842 feet), according to CCTV. Five villages within a 20-kilometer radius of the epicenter, approximately 50 kilometers from Wushi county’s main urban area, were reported by Xinhua.
Wushi county, with a population of 205,000 people according to China’s 2020 census, experienced heavy tremors felt in cities hundreds of miles away, including Kashgar and Hotan.
Videos posted by Xinjiang residents on Chinese social media depicted lights swinging and crowds taking shelter outside in the streets as temperatures dropped to as low as -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight.
The quake’s impact extended beyond China, with tremors felt in Kyrgyzstan, according to the United States Geological Survey.
In nearby Kazakhstan, at least 44 people were injured in Almaty, the country’s largest city.
The quake’s effects were also reported as far away as Uzbekistan.
