The quake, which occurred yesterday, struck at a depth of 6-km, and was felt strongly in Urumqi, the regional capital 100-km away, and other parts of northern Xinjiang.
The quake was followed by more than 140 aftershocks, including six measuring between 3 and 3.9 magnitude.
Schools were evacuated in affected areas and some had classes suspended in Hutubi.
Two persons sustained minor injuries.
Seven houses were toppled, another 18 were severely damaged and 379 had cracks following the tremor, according to the local command center for earthquakes.
The China Earthquake Administration has launched an emergency response, and work teams have been sent to Xinjiang to help with relief work, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Wang Guiqin, who lives on the second floor of a building in Hutubi, said “the building was shaking and the lamp looked like it would fall. The balcony door shook open”.
Liu Xingguo in Hutubi said he was in his yard when the quake struck. He felt the ground shaking, but his brick house was not damaged.
He did not see any other houses collapse in the village.
A Xinhua reporter in Urumqi said his office building shook for more than 10 seconds. Drinks cans and bottles fell from shelves in a supermarket in Urumqi.
Meanwhile, 24 trains have been affected as local railway authorities suspended rail services out of safety concerns.
A safety check was conducted on railway facilities between Urumqi and Kuytun, according to the Urumqi Railway Bureau.
The quake’s epicentre was in northern Hutubi, a sparsely-populated region at an altitude of 1,500 meters.
More than 70 per cent of houses in Hutubi and the neighbouring regions of Manas and Shihezi are government-subsidised earthquake-proof properties.
PTI