30 injured as 5.5 magnitude quake jolts southwest China

PanARMENIAN.Net - More than 30 people were injured and scores of houses damaged after a 5.5-magnitude quake struck southwest China's Yunnan Province on Sunday, March 3 state media have reported, according to RIA Novosti.

The earthquake has flattened 1,400 homes and damaged more than 6,000 others, China’s TV channels said.

“No human fatalities have been reported yet,” the official Xinhua news agency said citing a spokesman for the earthquake bureau in Yunnan province as saying. At least one of the injured is in a serious condition.

The quake struck Eryuan county, Dali Bai autonomous prefecture, on Sunday afternoon, with its epicenter detected at the depth of nine kilometers (5.6 miles), Xinhua said.

Provincial authorities have sent 6,000 tents, blankets and warm clothes to the affected area, which is home to some 130,000 residents. A rescue operation is ongoing.

In the past few weeks, south and southwest China was hit by a string of tremors. A 4.9-magnitude tremor injured eight people in China's Yunnan Province on Tuesday.