UPDATE 2 -- At least 7 dead, hundreds injured after quake in SW China destroys houses, hotels

2011-03-10 14:13:09 GMT+7 (ICT)

KUNMING, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- A strong earthquake struck the Chinese - Myanmar (Burma) border region on late Thursday morning, seismologists said, destroying scores of houses, shopping malls and hotels.

The 5.8-magnitude earthquake at 11.28 a.m. local time (0458 GMT) was centered in the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in China's Yunnan Province, close to the border with Burma. It struck about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

Several minutes after the initial earthquake, CENC said two aftershocks with magnitudes of 4.5 and 4.7 rattled the area. Reports of widespread damage and casualties were coming in, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

A Xinhua reporter at the scene said the area near the epicenter in Yingjiang County was left without power and reported that local shopping malls and hotels had collapsed. Xinhua also said that "many houses" had collapsed, including a supermarket.

China Network Television (CNTV) cited Li Zhiren, the deputy head of the county, as saying that at least seven people had been killed as of 2 p.m. local time. At least 211 others were injured, he said.

In October 2010, a light 4.7-magnitude earthquake destroyed a school in Taikang County in the country's Hennan Province, injuring 12 students. The quake also destroyed dozens of other homes in the region.

And in August 2010, more than 300 homes were damaged and 12 people were injured when a moderate 5.0-magnitude earthquake rattled Sichuan province. Before that, on April 14, nearly 3,000 people were killed and more than 12,000 others sustained injuries when a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake rocked northwest China's Qinghai Province.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-10

Moved to SEAsia