A moderate 5.7-magnitude earthquake left at least two people dead and more than a 100 injured in south-western China on Sunday, state media reported.
Rescue teams were dispatched to the remote mountainous counties of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces to sift through the rubble of collapsed homes in the countryside, even as officials began a relief operation in two worst-hit counties. The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that the earthquake, which struck Ninglang county in Yunnan at 3.59 p.m., had disrupted telecommunication networks. Local authorities had dispatched 300 tents, 500 quilts and 500 cotton-padded clothes to Ninglang.
Most damage occurred in counties near the provincial border of Yunnan and Sichuan, where the epicentre was located. The region is home to the Yi ethnic minority group, state media reported. Sichuan province was the scene of one of China’s worst ever earthquakes when a 7.9 magnitude quake in 2008 left more than 70,000 people dead.
