Moderate quake jolts Chinese county, 12 injured

At least 12 people were injured and thousands of structures damaged when a moderate 5.6-magnitude earthquake jolted a county in southwest China early today.
The quake struck Yingjiang County of Yunnan Province, near China's border with Myanmar, affecting about 23,800 residents in seven towns and toppled and damaged 9,412 houses. Two roads were also damaged.
The epicentre of the quake was in Kachang Town of Yingjiang, a quake-prone region, at a depth of 12 km, according to China Earthquake Networks Centre. Yingjiang has a population of about three lakh.
There had been 14 aftershocks since the first jolt at 7 am, the Yunnan provincial seismological bureau said.

Many panicked residents rushed out of their homes when the quake struck. Tiles fell from roofs and power blacked out in the area, said Tao Jiqing, Communist Party secretary of the county.
The injured have been admitted to a local hospital.

Authorities in the quake-hit region have set up three relocation sites to help 8,465 displaced residents.
The provincial seismological bureau has dispatched a team of 50 people to the region to carry out surveying, investigation and disaster evaluation.
The Yunnan Provincial Civil Affairs Department has sent 1,600 tents, 2,000 quilts and 1,000 folding beds to the areas.
Yunnan lies where the Eurasian Plate and Indian Plate meet and is prone to quakes.