More than 1,000 aftershocks were recorded after Wednesday's 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck the far western region of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China Earthquake Administration reported on Thursday.

By 11 am Thursday, 7,838 residents in six counties of Hotan were affected by the tremor, with 982 relocated to safety, said a statement from the regional civil affairs department.

No casualties have been reported as of Thursday.

The jolt also toppled 157 houses and damaged 3,297 others to varying degrees, inflicting direct economic losses of about 41.65 million yuan ($6.87 million), according to the statement.

More than 180 troops have been sent to the quake zone. Rice, flour, cooking oil, mutton and medicine have been distributed to the local people.

Locals said the houses near the epicenter are all quake-resistant. Xinjiang started a quake-resistant housing project in 2004.

Experts with the China Earthquake Networks Center said the area shares the same tectonic plate with Wenchuan in Sichuan Province and Yushu in Qinghai Province. Both Wenchuan and Yushu were struck by earthquakes in 2008 and 2010 respectively.