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Beijing: An earthquake that hit southwest China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces has killed 25 people, damaged or destroyed more than 100,000 homes and affected at least 600,000 residents, state media said on Sunday.
The epicentre of Saturday's quake, which struck around 4:30pm, was about 30 km southeast of Panzhihua, near Sichuan's border with Yunnan, according to the US Geological Survey. The quake was about 10km deep.
The USGS put the magnitude of the quake at 5.7, while China's official Xinhua news agency said it measured 6.1. A 5.6-magnitude aftershock hit the same area 24 hours later, the USGS said yesterday. There were no immediate reports of further damage.
Xinhua said Saturday's quake had injured more than 250 people, and three more were missing.
It added that 656 schools had also been damaged and that heavy rain and difficult terrain were hampering rescue efforts, with mobile telephone communications patchy.
State television showed pictures of houses with large cracks in their sides, broken tiles on the road and people receiving medical attention under tents.
The government was rushing disaster relief to the affected areas, including thousands of tents and blankets and tonnes of food and water, Xinhua said.
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