Over 220 perish in China quake

Beijing: At least 220 people died and 1,400 people were injured after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit China's Yunnan province on Sunday, state-run television reported. Some 12,000 homes were destroyed, 30,000 others were damaged and 181 people are still missing, according to CCTV. Power and telephone outages were complicating assessment of the damage, rescuers said. The quake was centered about 11 km west-northwest of the town of Wenping, according to the US Geological Survey. Xinhua said about 12,000 homes had collapsed in Ludian, a county of some 439,000 people, north-east of Yunnan province's capital, Kunming.

220 killed in China quake

• A 6.5-magnitude earthquake jolted China's Yunnan Province
• More than 12,000 houses were toppled and 30,000 damaged
• Transportation, electricity & telecommunications cut off

Beijing: Over 220 people were killed and 1,400 injured after an earthquake measuring from 6.1 to 6.5, according to different estimates, toppled buildings in Chinese Yunnan province.

The majority of the dead were from Ludian county, which Chinese state television said was at the epicenter of the quake. At least 1,300 people also from the county have been injured and 181 remain missing, Yunnan's information bureau reported.

The province's seismological bureau said that another 49 people died and 102 were injured in Qiaojia county.

There are also reports saying that the death toll has reached 230 by early Monday morning local time.

The China Earthquake Networks Center said the magnitude of the quake was 6.5. The quake struck 11 kilometers west-northwest of the town of Wenping at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers, according to USGS.

"I felt a strong jolt on my fifth-floor home and some small objects in my home fell off the shelves," a resident of Ludian told official Xinhua News Agency.

The quake toppled and cracked apart buildings, forcing people to rush into the streets.

About 12,000 homes collapsed in Ludian county, where some 429,000 people live and that is located around 366 kilometers (277 miles) northeast of Yunnan's capital, Kunming. Transportation, electricity and telecommunications have been cut off in the county.

Another resident said it felt like "sailing a boat" when he was driving a car in the tremor. Ma Liya, a resident in the county seat, told Xinhua via telephone that the streets were like a "battlefield after bombardment". She added that the house of her neighbour, a new two-storey building, was toppled.

"It's so terrible. The aftermath is much worse than what happened after the quake two years ago. I have never felt so strong tremors before. What I can see are all ruins," she said. However, Ma is worrying more about the family of her cousin, who live in the epicentre site Longtoushan, as her calls to the families went unanswered."I just hope they are safe and sound. They didn't answer the calls," she said. The quake toppled and cracked many buildings, particularly old ones and residential homes. "Too many buildings were damaged and we are collecting data on deaths and injuries," said Chen Guoyong, head of the Longtoushan township, adding a rescue operation was underway. The road leading to the township was damaged in a landslide before the quake and traffic has not resumed. Zhaotong City has dispatched more than 300 police and firefighters to the quake-hit areas.