About 18,000 people have been left homeless after the earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale, which struck a remote county in northwest China last week.

The quake, which struck Tekes County, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture in northern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, at 6:06 PM on Friday, destroyed 4,600 houses and damaged 7,800 others, affecting 27,000 people, the prefectural government said.

No casualties have been reported, but more than 470 livestock sheds collapsed in the quake, killing about 400 livestock, it said.

The quake has caused direct losses of 63.75 million yuan (US$8.3 million).

Disaster relief materials such as tents and flour have been transported to the area.

The relocated residents are being accommodated with relatives or in tents provided by the government.

The quake also damaged four bridges in the county, including an 88-meter-long span over the Tekes River, which was seriously damaged and is now closed to vehicles weighing more than five tons.

Tekes County has a population of 143,000 with an area of 8,352 square kilometers.

Working teams from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the China Seismological Administration and the regional government are still in the area directing disaster relief efforts.

An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale rocked Xinjiang's Zhaosu County on border area with Kazakhstan on Dec. 1, 2003, killing 11 people, badly injuring 26 and destroying more than 700 homes.

(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2007)