Beijing: About 350 people were evacuated by military personnel from Akto County in the quake-prone Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region after it was hit by a strong 6.7-magnitude earthquake last week that killed one person and damaged several houses.
More than 20 army staff from the nearby military regiment arrived immediately after the quake, the regiment said in a statement.
Another 45 staff joined the rescue team on Saturday and went to a village close to the epicentre with tents, food and medicine. The regiment also sent oxygen and quilts to the worst-hit areas.
A quake measuring 6.5 magnitude hit Akto County in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last Friday. More than 120 militia helped residents clear the snow and transfer their property, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
One person died in the quake. Sections of railway in southern Xinjiang have also been temporarily closed. Six houses also were found cracked or collapsed.
In the last five years, 83 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or over have occurred within 200 km radius of the epicentre with the largest recorded on December 7, 2015 when a quake of magnitude 7.4 hit the neighbouring Tajikistan.
