Chinese authorities say an earthquake has killed at least eight people and injured more than 20 in Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County.
US Geological Survey said the shallow 5.4-magnitude quake struck yesterday at 5:58 am 213 kilometers south-southwest of the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar.
Xinhua news agency said eight people had been confirmed dead and 11 injured were sent to hospital.
The remote and sparsely populated area is close to the border with Tajikistan.
The Xinjiang Earthquake Administration said more than 180 houses had collapsed in the lightly populated area. More than 1,500 homes were badly damaged in the worst-affected village, Kuzigun, according to Chinese media reports.
They said some 9,200 people have been evacuated.
China is regularly hit by earthquakes, especially its mountainous western and southwestern regions.
In February 2003 a powerful 6.8-magnitude quake killed 268 people in Xinjiang and caused significant damage.
Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County is a county of Kashgar Prefecture in western Xinjiang, China. It is located in the eastern part of the Pamir Plateau, where the Kunlun, Karakoram, Hindukush and Tian Shan mountains come together, at the borders with Afghanistan (Wakhan Corridor), Tajikistan (Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region) and Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan). The county seat is Tashkurgan Town. The total population of Tashkurgan is 27,800, among them 84% Tajiks, 4% Han and 12% other nationalities.
