Chinese authorities say an earthquake has killed at least eight people and injured 23 in a western district populated mainly by ethnic Tajiks.
Officials said the 5.5-magnitude quake hit Taxkorgan Tajik County, in China's northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, at around 6 a.m. on May 11.
Local authorities said that more than 1,500 homes were badly damaged in the worst-affected village, Quzgun, according to Chinese media reports.
They said some 9,200 people have been evacuated and rescue operations were continuing.
Taxkorgan Tajik County is about 1,250 kilometers southwest of the regional capital, Urumqi, and borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
