Earthquake injures 27 in southwest China

An earthquake measuring 5

An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale hit China's southwestern province of Yunnan today, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The tremor hit Yongning township in Ninglang - a popular tourist destination - at 5.10 a.m. (10.10 p.m. Irish time), injuring 27 people and destroying 185 houses, Xinhua said.

Economic losses were estimated at 120 million yuan (£12 million), it said.

An official at the State Seismological Bureau in Beijing confirmed the size and the time of the quake but gave no further details.

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Ruggedly mountainous Yunnan, neighbouring Sichuan to the north and Tibet to the west are often shaken by earthquakes.