China’s official Xinhua news agency reports just under 200 homes were destroyed and approximately 3,000 other structures were damaged in an area inhabited by the Xibe ethnic group.
It said more than 4,500 people had been moved to shelters set up in schools, government buildings and tent camps.
Most of the affected people lived in Qapqal and Zhaosu counties, about 400 miles (700 km) west of the regional capital, Urumqi, according to Xinhua.
Officials estimated that damage and losses due to the strong shaking would be about $3.1 million.
China’s seismic agency placed the magnitude at 5.0, but U.S. Geological Survey seismologists say they measured the shaking at a magnitude of 5.3