Earthquake injures 27 in southwest China

An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale hit China's southwestern province of Yunnan today, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The tremor hit Yongning township in Ninglang - a popular tourist destination - at 5.10 a.m. (10.10 p.m. Irish time), injuring 27 people and destroying 185 houses, Xinhua said.

Economic losses were estimated at 120 million yuan (£12 million), it said.

An official at the State Seismological Bureau in Beijing confirmed the size and the time of the quake but gave no further details.

Ruggedly mountainous Yunnan, neighbouring Sichuan to the north and Tibet to the west are often shaken by earthquakes.