5.1-magnitude quake jolts SW China

KUNMING/CHENGDU - An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale jolted the junction area of Southwest China's Yunnan and Sichuan provinces on Wednesday.

No casualties have been reported, although the quake has destroyed dozens of houses and cut off road traffic and telecommunications.

The quake hit the juncture area of Rongxian county in Sichuan and Deqen and Shangri-la counties in Yunnan at 4:44 am, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The epicenter, with a depth of 9 km, was monitored at 28.2 degrees north latitude and 99.3 degrees east longitude, the center said.

The Yunnan provincial seismological bureau launched a fourth-level emergency response shortly after the quake, and dispatched a work team to the region to carry out surveying, investigation and disaster evaluation work.

The quake has toppled 36 houses and damaged 36 others in Shangri-la county and affected nearly 4,000 people, according to a statement from the civil affairs bureau in the Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Deqen, which administers the county, according to the bureau.

The quake was also felt in five townships in Rongxian county in Sichuan. The county government has dispatched 100 tents for the disaster relief.

Further verification of the impact of the quake is under way.