[1] Two strong earthquakes with magnitudes Ms  6.4 and 6.3 occurred on January 21, 1997, at 09:47 and 09:48 local time, respectively, in Jiashi County of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, NW China.

[2] The earthquakes occurred on a major strike-slip fault beneath the Tarim Basin.

[3] Another earthquake on March 1, 1997, at 14:04 local time with magnitude Ms  6.0 killed another person.

[4] On April 6, 11 and 16, other four earthquakes with magnitudes Ms  6.3, 6.4, 6.6 and 6.3 killed 8 people.

[6] Rebiya Kadeer wrote that her career was significantly affected by the earthquakes, which were "one of the worst natural disasters that had occurred in the Uyghur nation in recent memory."