JULY 3 (Reuters) — Surveillance footage released on Friday (July 3) by Chinese state television showed the moment a 6.4 earthquake struck a rural part of China’s far western Xinjiang region.
At least four people were killed and more than 20 injured when the earthquake hit Guma County of Hotan Prefecture on Friday morning, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.
The footage showed the walls of a local supermarket shaking, with goods falling from shelves.
Pictures on social media and state television showed cracks on the walls of buildings and other minor damage.
Many traditional houses in the mainly ethnic Uighur region collapsed when the shallow quake struck about 160 km (100 miles) northwest of the southern city of Hotan in the early morning, according to Chinese emergency officials.
The quake was initially reported at various magnitudes up to 6.5. Several aftershocks were reported, the strongest measuring magnitude 4.8, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Residents of the region expressed shock at the intensity of the quake on social media, although authorities said they were optimistic the death toll would not be high.
Earthquakes frequently strike China. A quake in the southwestern province of Sichuan in 2008 killed almost 70,000 people.
Xinjiang, located on the borders of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia, is one of China’s most politically sensitive regions following years of violence, blamed by the government on Islamist militants.
Exiled Uighur groups and human rights activists say the government’s own repressive policies and religious and cultural restrictions have provoked unrest, an accusation the government denies.