Aftershocks continued to hit Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China's remote northwest on Monday with the affected population rising to nearly 100,000.

According to Xinjiang Seismological Bureau, 889 aftershocks have hit the Hotan Prefecture until Monday afternoon, of which 68 were between 4 and 4.9 on the Richter scale, four were above 5.0 on the Richter scale and one was 6.4 on the Richter scale.

Meanwhile, 97,603 people were affected and 2,283 houses were damaged or flattened in counties of Yutian, Qira and Lop in southern Xinjiang's Hotan Prefecture during the quakes, a spokesman with the regional Department of Civil Affairs said on Monday.

No casualties have been reported.

The direct economic loss was 114 million yuan (16 million US dollars), he said.

Some 1,100 tents have been sent to the affected area, he said.

The first and strongest 7.3-magnitude tremor hit Yutian at 6:33 a.m on Friday, which was followed by at least 12 aftershocks measuring over 3.8 on the Richter scale.

Power supply, telecommunications and traffic were almost unaffected.

In 2004, the Hotan government launched a project to build quake-resistant houses in the quake-prone Kunlun Mountain region. More than 1.2 million people in 257,000 households had moved to new quake-resistant buildings by September last year.

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2008)