BEIJING (AP) — A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck a sparsely populated part of China's western Xinjiang region early Tuesday, downing power lines, destroying at least two homes and prompting authorities to halt trains, local authorities and state media reported. No deaths or injuries were initially reported.
Xinhua News Agency quoted the China Earthquake Networks Center as saying the quake struck Uchturpan County (Wushi County in Mandarin) in Aksu Prefecture shortly after 2 a.m
Two houses collapsed, Aksu authorities said, and about 200 rescuers were sent to the epicenter, state broadcaster CCTV said. The Xinjiang Railway Authority grounded dozens of trains and sealed off affected sections, CCTV reported. The quake destroyed power lines, but power was quickly restored in the area, Aksu authorities reported.
According to the US Geological Survey, the quake had a magnitude of 7.0 and occurred in the Tian Shan Mountains, “a seismically active region, although earthquakes of this magnitude are rare.” It said the largest quake in the area in the past century was a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in 1978, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) north early Tuesday.
State broadcaster CCTV said there had been 14 aftershocks since the main quake, two of which registered magnitudes above 5.
The earthquake struck in a rural area predominantly inhabited by Uyghurs, a Turkish ethnic group that is predominantly Muslim and has been the target of a government campaign of forced assimilation and mass incarceration in recent years.
Uchturpan county, at the epicenter of the quake, is recording temperatures well below freezing, with the China Meteorological Administration predicting lows of minus 18 degrees Celsius (just below zero degrees Fahrenheit) this week. Parts of northern and central China have shivered in freezing cold snaps this winter, and authorities have closed schools and highways several times due to snowstorms.
The tremors were felt hundreds of kilometers away. Ma Shengyi, a 30-year-old pet shop owner who lives in Tacheng, 600 kilometers (373 miles) from the epicenter, said her dogs started barking before she felt her apartment building shake. The quake was so strong that her neighbors ran down the stairs. Mom rushed to her bathroom and started crying.
“There’s no point in running away if it’s a big earthquake,” Ma said. “I was scared to death.”
Chandeliers swung, buildings were evacuated and a media office building near the epicenter shook for a full minute, Xinhua reported. A video posted on Weibo by a Chinese netizen showed residents bundled up in winter jackets standing outside on the street, and a photo posted by CCTV showed a cracked wall with fallen chunks.
Tremors were felt throughout the Xinjiang region and in neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. In the Kazakh capital Almaty, people left their homes, the Russian news agency Tass reported.
Videos posted on messaging platform Telegram showed people in Almaty running down the stairs of apartment blocks and standing outside on the street after feeling strong shaking. Some people appeared to have quickly left their homes and were pictured standing outside in freezing temperatures wearing shorts.
Earthquakes are common in western China, including in Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, as well as in the Xinjiang region and Tibet.
An earthquake that struck Gansu in December killed 151 people and was China's deadliest quake in nine years.
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