Moderate Earthquake Rocks Southwestern China, Hundreds Reported Injured

A moderate earthquake of magnitude 6 on the Richter scale rocked China’s southwestern regions, injuring at least 300 people and destroying more than 10,000 homes, reported official Xinhua news agency on Thursday.

The report said the quake struck at 7:19 pm local time in southwest China’s Yunnan province on Thursday evening, adding that the quake was followed by eight aftershocks. Its epicenter was reported to be in a mountainous area in Yaoan County of Yunnan province.

According to the Xinhua report, the earthquake destroyed some 10,000 homes and damaged another 30,000. It added that 30 of the 335 people injured in the quake were in serious condition and were receiving treatment in the province’s hospitals.

Xinhua said the provincial government has sent 2,500 tents, 3,000 quilts and other relief materials to the site of the quake, adding that hundreds of police and military personnel have also been deployed to provide assistance to the victims.

The Yunnan Province is earthquake-prone zone, and lies along China’s southern border with Thailand and Myanmar. More than 900 people were killed in a 7.1-magnitude quake in Yunnan in 1998, while a magnitude-7.7 earthquake in the province is said to have killed 15,000 people in 1970. More recently, a devastating earthquake of 7.9 magnitude in the neighboring Sichuan province on 12th May 2008 killed up to 90,000 people.