Medical staff transfer an injured person after an earthquake struck in Qiaojia county of Zhaotong in southwest China's Yunnan province on May 19, 2020 (CHEN XINBO / XINHUA)

KUNMING - A magnitude 5 earthquake struck southwest China’s Yunnan province late on Monday and left two persons dead and 24 others injured, local authorities said.

The earthquake was also felt strongly in Huize county of Qujing City, as well as in the cities of Zhaotong and Xuanwei and the Chuxiong Yi autonomous prefecture, local authorities said

Rescue teams from the local public security, fire fighting, and emergency response units have rushed to the quake zone centered in Qiaojia county.

The Yunnan provincial disaster reduction committee office and the provincial emergency response department have launched a level-four response for the disaster relief and sent a working group to the disaster area to assist and guide the earthquake relief work. 

A mining rescue team from Zhaotong City is on the way to the disaster area. Meanwhile, the Zhaotong fire department has dispatched 91 firefighters with 19 fire engines and four sniffer dogs to join rescue efforts. 

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Xinhua reporters on Tuesday morning saw rescuers approaching Yakou village, Xiaohe township in the epicenter of Qiaojia. Excavators were seen removing landslide debris along a road. Rescuers also brought with them disaster relief goods, including mineral water, bread and porridge, for affected villagers.

The road traffic to Xiaohe and Xindian townships has remained unblocked. The earthquake damaged 10 telecom base stations and workers have fixed five of them. 

The county government of Qiaojia has also allocated disaster relief goods, including 100 tents, 500 quilts, 25 tons of rice and 400 barrels of edible oil to Xiaohe township.

The quake struck at 9:47 pm and the epicenter, with a depth of eight kilometers, was monitored at 27.18 degrees north latitude and 103.16 degrees east longitude, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The earthquake was also felt strongly in Huize county of Qujing City, as well as in the cities of Zhaotong and Xuanwei and the Chuxiong Yi autonomous prefecture, local authorities said.

The county government of Qiaojia has sent rescuers to 16 townships for the rescue and disaster relief, they said.

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