A magnitude-7.3 earthquake and a string of aftershocks struck a sparsely populated area in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Wednesday afternoon causing damage to houses and sheepfolds.

No casualties were reported after the powerful quake struck Yutian county at 5:19 pm on Wednesday, or after an estimated 143 tremors rattled the area. Twenty of the aftershocks registered higher than 3 on the Richter scale, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

At least 350 houses and 260 sheepfolds in Yutian, located in Hotan prefecture, were damaged and some livestock killed, local news portal ts.cn reported.