November 1, 2011 Earthquake: Xinjiang Province, China

More than 2,453 houses destroyed,

about 3,800 people displaced and at least 10.5 million

U.S. dollars damage in Xinjiang. Felt (IV) at Yining.

Also felt at Aksu and Changji. Felt (IV) at Sarkand

and (II) at Almaty, Kazakhstan. Also felt at Oskemen,

Taraz and Tekeli. (reference #1053)

A moderate earthquake in remote northwestern China has destroyed dozens of houses and damaged many more, but there have been no reported casualties, government officials and state media said Tuesday. More than 50 houses collapsed and hundreds of homes were damaged after the 5.4-magnitude quake jolted the border area of Yining and Gongliu counties in Xinjiang, the local earthquake bureau said on its official microblog. The quake, which the US Geological Survey revised down to 5.4 from an initial reading of 6.0, struck at 8:21am (0021 GMT) around 96 kilometres (59 miles) east of the city of Yining, at a depth of 27 kilometres.

The China Earthquake Administration said the quake was believed to have caused "major damage" and "strong shaking" was felt in neighbouring counties, the official Xinhua news agency reported. (reference #9624)

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit the northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang, while a 5.4 magnitude quake struck the southwestern region of the country between the Sichuan and Gansu provinces. The earthquakes struck early Tuesday morning and the official Xinhua news agency reported that The China Earthquake Administration believed that the Xinjiang quake was felt in neighboring countries and is projected to have caused "major damage." The Sichuan province quake was not considered very serious and is reported to be causality free. According to The China Daily, the earthquake in the Xinjiang province caused 824 houses to collapse, although no causalities have been reported yet. The newspaper reported that local officials said that the damage caused by the quake has reached more than $10.5 million. (reference #9623)