/ 13 August 2005

Quake topples houses in south-west China

An earthquake measuring 5,3 on the Richter scale shook south-west China’s Yunnan province on Saturday, toppling houses and causing several injuries, state media reported.

”Injuries have been reported in seven townships of Wenshan county,” the official Xinhua news agency reported.

”The earthquake has also toppled some houses. However, the exact number of injuries and economic losses is unavailable,” the report said.

The quake’s epicentre was in an area where the three townships of Matang, Binglie and Hongdian meet, Xinhua said.

Four experts from the State Seismological Bureau have been dispatched to the affected area, as well as a 28-member team from Yunnan’s provincial seismological bureau, the report said.

Nine people were injured in a 5,3-magnitude earthquake that struck the same Chinese province on August 6. — Sapa-AFP