UCHTURPAN, China — Aftershocks from a magnitude 7.1 earthquake continued to rock western China on Wednesday, while more than 12,000 displaced people relying on tents and shelters lit bonfires to fend off freezing weather.
The quake early Tuesday in a remote part of China’s Xinjiang region killed three people and left five injured, owing both to the sparse population and efforts in recent years to improve the durability of housing around the epicenter in Uchturpan county, near the border with Kyrgyzstan.
But at least several hundred livestock, key to local livelihoods, were killed.
Footage shown by state broadcaster CCTV showed evacuees eating instant noodles in tents, with bonfires providing heat. Local officials said they planned to check houses for stability before people could return.
Towns and villages were scattered across an otherwise barren landscape. A two-lane highway runs about 125 kilometers (78 miles) from the nearest city of Aksu, with power lines and an occasional cement factory virtually the only signs of human presence.