More than 1,700 houses damaged in Xinjiang earthquake

The buildings of 1,728 households were damaged in the earthquake that hit Shawan County of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China, local authorities said on Monday.

As of 2 pm Monday, the tremor had affected 6,756 people, and caused a direct economic loss of 92.23 million yuan (about $14.65 million). No casualties were reported.

An earthquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale hit Shawan of the Tacheng Prefecture in the north of the region at 2:42 pm Sunday.

Three teams of experts are carrying out disaster relief in 132 villages near the epicenter. Rescuers are striving to ensure transportation and power supply in the affected areas.