Section of Kashgar-Hotan railway resumes service

A section of Kashgar-Hotan railway has resumed service. Operations were temporarily suspended after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Wednesday. The railway administration of Urumqi suspended a section from Hotan to Moyu for safety reasons, stranding more than 500 passengers. The service resumed one hour later, after safety and security checks were carried out. Life in the quake-hit area has now returned to normal.

The epicentre, with a depth of 12 km, was located at Yutian County in southwest Xinjiang, in a sparsely populated area. There have been no reports of casualties.

More than 180 livestock have been killed. Over 340 aftershocks had been recorded as of 11:00 p.m. Beijing time on Wednesday. Local authorities say 67 houses have collapsed and more than 1,000 damaged.