Quake hits southwest China

BEIJING – A moderate earthquake rocked southwest China killing one person, injuring at least 324 others and collapsing some 18,000 homes, state media said.

The magnitude-6.0 temblor, centered in Yunnan province’s Yao’an county, also damaged nearly 40,000 homes on Thursday, the Xinhua News Agency said.

Thirty people suffered severe injuries, Xinhua said.

The quake was followed by eight aftershocks and the provincial civil affairs department was sending 4,500 tents, 3,000 quilts and other relief materials to Yao’an, Xinhua said.

Hundreds of police were dispatched to the disaster zone, it said.

Yunnan is a quake-prone, mountainous region that lies on China’s southern border with Thailand and Myanmar.