In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, people gather in an open area after an earthquake in Jiashi County of Kashgar prefecture in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. A strong earthquake has damaged buildings and injured at least one person seriously in China’s far west Xinjiang region. (Li Chengxin/Xinhua via AP)
BEIJING (AP) — A strong earthquake damaged buildings and injured at least one person seriously in a rural part of China’s far west Xinjiang region, the government said Monday.
Rescue teams were sent to Peyzawat county, a rural area outside of the city of Kashgar, after the Sunday night quake. The Ministry of Emergency Management said a number of people were injured, one seriously, and some small buildings and walls around properties collapsed.
The magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck at 9:21 p.m. at a depth of 16 kilometers (10 miles), the China Earthquake Networks Center said. The epicenter was 56 kilometers (35 miles) from Peyzawat and shaking was felt in the cities of Kashgar and Artux, the center said.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported the earthquake’s magnitude as 6.0 and its depth as 11 kilometers (7 miles).
Earthquakes occur frequently in the region, which borders central Asia.
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