China Quake Razes More Than 3,400 Buildings-Xinhua

BEIJING (Reuters) - An earthquake in southern China measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale toppled more than 3,400 buildings and killed at least one person, the official Xinhua news agency reported Sunday.

The quake rocked a remote area of Yunnan Province on Saturday and Xinhua originally estimated about 1,500 buildings had collapsed.

The agency said at least one person was killed and more than 130 were injured -- including three seriously -- in the quake, which had its epicenter in Yongsheng County, some 360 miles northwest of the provincial capital of Kunming.

The China Youth Daily and the Beijing Evening News reported that three people had died.

Officials in Yongsheng declined to comment on the damage or rescue efforts and provincial authorities were not available.

Rescue teams set up tents late Saturday and Sunday began distributing rice, food oil and other supplies to the victims, Xinhua said. Some 15 tonnes of rice had been allocated for disaster relief.

Medical teams and police were also dispatched after the early afternoon earthquake, Xinhua reported.

Besides Yongsheng, which has a population of 377,000, rescue efforts were also being mounted in parts of three neighboring counties that were shaken by the quake, Xinhua said.

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