BEIJING - The 5.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Sunday has affected 21,000 people, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Monday.

As of 6 pm Monday, the quake has forced 2,600 residents to relocate and caused damage to over 9,000 houses, the ministry said in a statement.

Disaster relief work is underway and local civil affairs authorities have sent tents, food, coal and other cold-proof materials to the quake-hit areas, the statement said.

An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale jolted Hoxud county in Xinjiang at 2:20 pm Sunday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

Another magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck the same area six minutes later.