Homeless people rest in a temporary settlement for the quake victims in Yongping township of Jinggu county in Yunnan province on Wednesday.
AFP/Beijing
Thousands of rescuers were deployed in southwest China on Wednesday after a strong earthquake left one person dead and more than 300 injured, with over 100,000 displaced, state-run media reported.
The shallow 6.0 magnitude tremor hit late on Tuesday in Yunnan province, close to China's borders with Myanmar and Laos, China's official Xinhua news agency said.
School buildings were widely damaged in the area, reports said, although the quake struck during the night and no pupil deaths were recorded.
Xinhua said 100 schools were damaged and cited a local official as saying an estimated 170,000 square metres of buildings needed repairs.
More than 124,000 people had been forced from their homes by the quake, Xinhua added, but there had been "little to no rain" in the region in recent days, reducing the risk of landslides.
"Many houses collapsed and we are investigating the casualties," a local official told Xinhua. "The aftershocks seem non-stopping."
China's President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang were both quoted in state-media urging rescue efforts, with 3,200 troops dispatched in a "race to save more lives", according to Xinhua.
More than 800 firefighters were taking part, with 35 sniffer dogs, it said.
The agency said buildings shook for several seconds, while some towns in the area had lost power supply and telecommunications.
Thousands of homes were also damaged in neighbouring Lincang, it said.
Photos on social media showed damaged houses, cracked walls and fallen roof tiles, and crowds of people gathered outside into the night.
