ASIAN SOCIAL POLITIC - BEIJING - AT LEAST 14 people were killed and 135 others injured in an earthquake that struck a remote area of southwest China near the border with Myanmar on Thursday, a local official said.
The epicentre of the 5.4-magnitude quake, which struck at 12.58pm (12.58pm Singapore time), was located about 225km west-southwest of Dali in Yunnan province, the US Geological Survey reported.
The quake hit at a depth of 34km, the USGS said, though Chinese seismologists put the depth at a shallow 10km.
An official at the local earthquake relief headquarters in Yingjiang county told AFP by telephone that authorities had so far counted 14 dead and 135 injured. State television had earlier said more than 200 were hurt.
'Many houses' collapsed in the tremor, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing local authorities. Witnesses told the news agency that parts of a supermarket and hotel had caved in, and that people were buried in the debris.
The quake triggered power outages in Yingjiang county, Xinhua said, adding that three aftershocks had been registered. -- AFP
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