SW China quake leaves at least four dead, over 100 injured

At least two people died and 100 others were injured after a 5.7-magnitude earthquake jolted southwest China Sunday, local authorities said.

The casualties were reported in the county of Ninglang in Yunnan province and the neighboring Yanyuan county in Sichuan province.

The quake was strongly felt in Ninglang, and local authorities have sent 300 tents, 500 quilts and 500 cotton-padded clothes to the county, said Bai Yong, director of the Disaster Relief Section of the Yunnan Provincial Civil Affairs Department.

Telecommunication networks in the county's Yongning township were cut by the quake.

The Yunnan Provincial Seismological Bureau has dispatched a working team to the area to calculate the losses.

The 5.7-magnitude quake struck the border of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces at 3:59 p.m. Sunday, followed by a 3.3-magnitude aftershock two minutes later, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The epicenter was located at the border area between Ninglang and Yanyuan, where the Yi ethnic group inhabit.

A spokesman with the Yanyuan county government told Xinhua that the quake was not strongly felt in the county seat, but many houses in the countryside collapsed.

The spokesman said local authorities are investigating the casualties and property losses.

Light to moderate rain will hit the quake-affected Ninglang county through the coming week, and rainfalls would be concentrated from June 30 to July 1, said Pu Guiming, chief weather forecaster with the Yunnan provincial meteorological station.

Rescue teams are urged to conduct the relief work in accordance with the weather conditions.