6.0-magnitude quake hits Xinjiang

A 6.0-magnitude quake jolted northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at 8:21 a.m. Tuesday, according to the local earthquake administration. No casualties have been reported so far.

A 6.0-magnitude quake jolted northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at 8:21 a.m. on November 1. In the photo a villager looks over his houses damaged by the earthquake in the region's Xinyuan County. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

More than 3,800 people were evacuated and 824 houses were toppled. Direct economic losses have reached more than 66.9 million yuan (10.5 million U.S. dollars), local officials said.

The regional bureau of civil affairs initiated a third-class emergency response to the quake at 11:00 a.m. A total of 200 tents, 1,000 bedclothes and 1,000 shoes have been allocated to quake-stricken areas, Xinhua reported.

Schools have been temporarily closed and two work teams have been dispatched for rescue and recovery work.

A section of the No. 218 national highway that was blocked by a landslide triggered by the quake resumed traffic as of 1:00 p.m. A single train was delayed on a section of railway in the quake zone as well.

The earthquake was also felt in the nearby counties of Xinyuan, Gongliu and Nilka.

The China Earthquake Administration (CEA) has ordered local authorities to swiftly conduct disaster analysis and quake relief. The administration hash also sent a working group to Xinjiang.

Other relevant institutions and centers, including the National Earthquake Response Support Service Center and the Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration (IGCEA), should provide technological support for quake relief by providing information related to local geological structures and remote sensing analysis, the CEA said.

In a related development, another earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale jolted the border area of Sichuan and Gansu provinces in western China at 5:58 a.m. Tuesday, according to the China Earthquake Network Center. No casualties were reported either.

Xinhua contributed to this story.