By Xinhua
Kunming (China) : Three people were killed and at least 290 injured after a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale struck southwest China's Yunnan province Sunday.
The quake shook the old downtown area of Hani and Yi county of Ning'er, in Pu'er city at 5:34 a.m., with the epicentre at 23 degrees north and 101.1 degrees east, according to the China Earthquake Administration.
The quake also forced the evacuation of 120,000 residents, said a spokesman for the provincial civil affairs department.
The local seismic bureau had recorded 14 aftershocks of at least 2.5 magnitude by 10:50 a.m. The strongest occurred at 10:49 a.m. with a magnitude of 5.1, centred at 23.02 degrees north and 101.06 degrees east.
Residents in Lincang city and Dai autonomous prefecture of Xishuangbanna in the south of the province, about 300 km from the epicentre, have also felt the tremor.
The government of Pu'er city has allocated one million yuan for relieving the disaster.
Rescue officials from the China Earthquake Administration have been dispatched to help local rescue efforts