Earthquake kills three, injures 300 in south-western China (Roundup)

Jun 3, 2007, 10:15 GMT

Beijing - A strong earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck an area of south-western China's Yunnan province early Sunday, destroying houses, killing at least three people and injuring about 300.

The epicentre of the quake at 5:34 am (2134 GMT Saturday) was at 23 degrees north and 101.1 degrees east in Yunnan's Ning'er county, near the border with Myanmar, the China Earthquake Administration said.

Heavy damage and casualties were reported in the old town of Pu'er, where most homes were built using traditional mud-bricks and wood, local residents said.

Electricity and water were cut off, and several main roads were damaged, a Pu'er hotel worker told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone.

The local electricity company suspended services because of the danger of fire from exposed cables.

At least 180,000 local residents were affected and emergency teams planned to evacuate 120,000 local residents to safer areas, the earthquake administration said.

Local officials had confirmed three people dead and about 300 injured, at least 15 of them seriously, the official Xinhua news agency said.

More than 100 aftershocks followed the first earthquake on Sunday, including 55 before 8 am that measured up to 4.0 on the Richter scale.

One aftershock measuring 5.1 shook the area at 10:49 am and smaller tremors continued on Sunday afternoon.

The 6.4-magnitude earthquake shook parts of neighbouring counties up to 300 kilometres form the epicentre, but there were no immediate reports of damage in the other areas.

Rescue teams were sent to Pu'er to assess the damage and prepare initial emergency supplies including bedding, clothes and 5,000 tents.

State media showed photographs of Pu'er residents eating and receiving medical treatment outdoors in a large city square.

Officials ordered the suspension of work at all coal mines in the area and sent some 3,000 soldiers to help with relief work, reports said.

The area administered by Pu'er covers 45,000 square kilometres and has a population of 2.6 million, state media said.

The earthquake was the strongest to hit Yunnan province since a quake of 7.0 magnitude destroyed much of the old town of Lijiang in 1996.

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres, but Chinese seismologists estimated the depth at only 5 kilometres.

Nine previous earthquakes measuring at least 5.0 have been recorded within a 50-kilometre radius of Pu'er, including a 6.8- magnitude quake in March 1979.