On August 30, 2013, a M_S5.1 earthquake occurred in Urumqi (43.8° N, 87.6° E), Xinjiang, China. This was the largest earthquake to have occurred in this area for decades, and the first earthquake with a magnitude equal to or greater than 5.0 to have occurred since establishment of the intensity fast report stations network in Urumqi. The microscopic epicenter of this earthquake was located in Hongshan. Although the earthquake was relatively small, most of the intensity fast report stations were triggered near the epicenter, and 32 main shock acceleration records were obtained. In this study, 23 typical strong motion records within different epicenter distances were selected to conduct a conventional analysis. By comparing the peak ground accelerations (PGA) of this earthquake with the acceleration attenuation relation of the soil layer in Xinjiang, observed values were found to be in good agreement with predicted values at a depth of 0~50 km. An earthquake location analysis was then conducted, and results were found to be influenced by several factors: the rationality of station distribution, accuracy of the regional velocity model, reliability of seismic phase discrimination, and the proper location method. We used the strong motion data to locate the M_S5.1 earthquake, and results showed a good linear relationship between P-wave travel time and epicentral distance. It is considered that in-depth research of motion characteristics could be conducted in other large cities, and results could be combined with records presented here.