Two die, 200 hurt as quake hits China tea city

Beijing, June 3: A strong earthquake hit a tea-making city in southwest China early today, killing at least two people, injuring 200, causing houses to collapse and damaging roads, Xinhua news agency and a local official said.

The earthquake shook the city of Pu'er and the surrounding area in mountainous Yunnan province in the early morning. There have since been 55 aftershocks. Tremors were felt 200 km (120 miles) away to the north and south, Xinhua said.

Power was cut to the city and the only communications possible were by cell phone, a local official said.

''The earthquake has left two people dead, 15 seriously injured and 192 slightly hurt in (Ning'er) county,'' Xinhua said, citing sources at rescue work headquarters.

''Some houses near the county collapsed and roads are severely destroyed. The communication network, and water and power supplies to the county, are also affected.'' The quake hit at 5.34 a.m. (2134 GMT Saturday), meaning most people would have been asleep when the houses collapsed, a local official said.

''We are busy collecting more detail.'' The government of Pu'er had allocated 1 million yuan (131,000 dollars) for relief. The provincial civil affairs department was sending 2,000 tents, 2,000 quilts and 2,000 items of clothing to the stricken area, Xinhua said.

Ning'er county, covering an area of 3,670 sq km (1,400 sq miles) within the city limits, has a population of 190,000.

Pu'er, home of the tea of the same name, lies near to the border with Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. The epicentre of the quake was 23.0 degrees north and 101.1 degrees east.

Pu'er tea dates back to the early Tang Dynasty (618-763).

Over the centuries it was used as a form of currency in China and was an important international trading item.

Earthquakes are common in China. In August last year, a 5.1 magnitude quake rocked Yunnan, killing two people.

In December, tremors were felt in Hong Kong and southern China when two earthquakes struck southern Taiwan.

Reuters>