As aftershocks continued to rock the area where more than 12,000 people were forced out of their homes following a 7.1 earthquake in western China on Tuesday, people were staying in tents and other shelters with bonfires blazing in an attempt to fend off the freezing weather.

According to The Associated Press (AP), the earthquake hit a remote part of China’s Xinjiang region, in which three people were killed and five injured, while damaging hundreds of buildings.

The quake caused significant damage amid freezing temperatures, but the toll on lives and property was relatively light, owing to the sparse population around the epicentre in Uchturpan county, near the border with Kazakhstan.

Footage shown by state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday showed evacuees eating instant noodles in tents with bonfires providing heat, the AP said.

Jian Gewa, a 16-year-old student in Uchturpan, said he was in the bathroom when the quake began. The entire building shook violently.

“I just thought I had to get myself to safety as quickly as possible,” Jian said.

He was evacuated to a school where he was staying in a dorm room with his grandfather, joining about 200 others. Local officials said they planned to check houses’ stability before people could return.

The earthquake hit a sparsely populated area with clusters of towns and villages scattered across an otherwise barren winter landscape.