BEIJING: At least 150 people have died after an earthquake struck a remote part of southwestern China on Sunday, state news agency Xinhua reported. The US Geological Survey said the quake registered at a shallow depth of less than 1 mile. The US Geological Survey said the magnitude-6.1 quake hit Yunnan province at 4:30 pm at a depth of 10 kilometers.
State television said on its microblog that the epicentre was in Yunnan’s Ludian county, where the initial deaths were reported.
Communications have been seriously affected and rescuers are rushing to the scene, the report said.
Pictures posted online by state media showed troops stretchering people away, and bricks which had fallen off buildings damaging cars.
China is frequently struck by quakes in this part of the country. A quake in Sichuan in 2008 killed almost 70,000 people.
The quake was also felt in the neighbouring provinces of Guizhou and Sichuan, state media added.
