5.1 quake jolts parts of China's Yunnan, Sichuan provinces

An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale jolted the junction area of southwest China's Yunnan and Sichuan provinces today toppling several houses.

 

No casualties have been reported, although the quake has destroyed dozens of houses and cut off road traffic and telecommunications, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

 

The quake has toppled 36 houses and damaged 36 others in Shangri-la County and affected nearly 4,000 people, according to a statement from the civil affairs bureau in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Deqen, which administers the county.

 

The quake was also felt in five townships in Rongxian County in Sichuan. The county government has dispatched 100 tents for the disaster relief.

 

The quake hit the juncture area of Rongxian county in Sichuan and Deqen and Shangri-la counties at 4:44 a.m. (local time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. The epicenter was at a depth of 9 km.

 

The Yunnan provincial seismological bureau launched a fourth-level emergency response shortly after the quake, and dispatched a team to the region to carry out surveying, investigation and disaster evaluation work.